Japan’s Passport Gets Design Overhaul Featuring Hokusai’s ‘The Great Wave’
Image via Shutterstock
Japan’s passport just got a new look.
The “world’s most powerful passport” now features artwork by ukiyo-e master Katsushika Hokusai, which will be displayed on passports applied after 4 February.
According to CNN, “ukiyo-e” were “mass-produced Japanese woodblock prints” that featured various types of information—from theater announcements to erotica. These prints were widely distributed in 17th-century and 19th-century Edo, now known as Tokyo.
Works by Hokusai from his Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series, including his well-known print The Great Wave off Kanagawa, will grace the pages of the new passports used for entry and exit stamps.
The passport will showcase the works in full spreads across its 48 pages. The front cover of the passport, however, will remain the same.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry aims to display Hokusai’s designs on the passport to showcase Japanese culture ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. The intricate design also doubles up as a counterfeit-prevention measure.
Katsushika Hokusai is one of the most well-known Japanese artists in the world.
— Consulate-General of Japan Calgary (@CGJCalgary) January 29, 2020
His most famous works is the "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji: The Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa".🌊
Do you have any other Hokusai favourites?https://t.co/tdUonwJLVn#JapaneseArt #ukiyoe pic.twitter.com/kZqeSDZ1br
Katsushika Hokusai - Ushibori in Hitachi Province - From the series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" pic.twitter.com/k7yFmronP5
— asdfg (@Ilia_Bru) January 31, 2020
#traditionalculture #utagawakuniyoshi Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji Famous Japanese canvas art Ukiyo-e Master Abstract Painting posters and Print Wall Home Decor https://t.co/oV3kwz9r89 pic.twitter.com/zDCdHY0UJ4
— The Ukiyo-e (@ukiyo_the) February 5, 2020
The Waterwheel at Onden (Onden no suisha), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei),Katsushika Hokusai pic.twitter.com/ue52w511EP
— ukiyoe_love (@ukiyoe_love) February 5, 2020
Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), Yejiri Station, Province of Suruga. Part of the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, no. 35, circa 1832. pic.twitter.com/NdcGgHb2pW
— Levi is back (@i_Midnight_) February 2, 2020
[via CNN, opening image via Shutterstock]
