From the group of ten earliest prints from the series Fugaku sanjurokkei printed with a blue outline and the signature Hokusai aratame Iitsu hitsu. The series is now given the publishing date of 1830-1. [see Ukiyo-e taikei, XIII, 1-10 and Hokusai and his school...Rijksmuseum, 1982, pp. 42-3]

Gaifu kaisei can be translated "clear weather with a south breeze". In the summer when the morning air around Mount Fuji is clear, the northern slopes appear pink at sunrise, hence the depiction of the mountain in shades of red. This accounts for the soubriquet 'Red Fuji'. Some impressions of the design render the sunrise in delicate color while others emphasize the contrast between the red-brown slopes, deep blue sky and the blanket of green trees.


For other copies and discussions of 'Red Fuji' see Richard Lane. Hokusai, His Life and Work (London: Barrie and Jenkins, 1989); Ukiyo-e taikei, vol 13; Narazaki Muneshige. (adapted by J. Bester). Hokusai, the Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji (Tokyo, 1968); Richard Lane. Images from the Floating World: The Japanese Print, Including an Illustrated Dictionary of Ukiyo-e (Oxford, 1978); Matthi Forrer. Hokusai, A guide to the serial graphics (Philadelphia and London, 1974); M. Forrer. Hokusai and his School, Catalogue of the Collectio of Japanese Prints, Part III (Amsterdam: Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, 1982)