Hokusai's genre scenes, bijin-ga (beautiful women), and miscellaneous subjects represent the breadth of his career across more than seven decades. The market for non-landscape Hokusai prints has strengthened as collectors seek beyond the most famous designs.
Akutagawa is one of the place-name poems from classical Japanese literature — the site where the Heian-era courtier Ariwara no Narihira famously abducted his beloved in the tenth-century Tales of Ise. Produced as a surimono around 1801–06 in the distinctive kokonotsugiri-ban format, the composition likely evokes that romantic legend through landscape imagery, using the river setting as a literary allusion.

1821
Color woodblock print with metallic pigments; surimono shikishiban

1822
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono

1822
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono

c. 1832
Color woodblock print; oban

Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print

1934
Color woodblock print; oban

n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Akutagawa was created by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎) in c. 1801/06.
Akutagawa depicts landscapes, figures, and travel scenes.