In this well-known work Hokusai depicts man of vulnerability when faced with the power of nature. The scene shows three cargo boats whose fearful oarsmen huddle together, turning away in horror from the huge wave about to engulf them. To emphasize his vision, Hokusai has the viewer looking up into the menacing hollow of the giant wave---a view that the oarsmen are too terrified to face

The eternal mountain is envisioned in a single moment frozen in time. Hokusai characteristically cast a traditional theme in a novel interpretation. In the traditional "meisho-e" (scene of a famous place), Mount Fuji was always the focus of the composition. Hokusai inventively inverted this formula and positioned a small Mount Fuji within the midst of a thundering seascape.

In the Japanese tradition, brushwork was considered the essence of painting and calligraphy. The more accomplished the brushstrokes the greater the work. One of the most striking aspects of the Great Wave is Hokusai use of line to create both movement and space. The apparent spontaneity of his brushwork is a contributing factor. In the creation of this print, the block cutter has faithfully reproduced this sense of spontaneous brushwork.