Lake Suwa in Shinano Province (Shinshu Suwako), from the series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"

Lake Suwa (Suwa-ko) in Shinano Province (present-day Nagano Prefecture) appears in Hokusai's Fugaku sanjurokkei (Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji), published by Nishimuraya Yohachi beginning around 1830–32. The composition depicts the lake from the eastern shore of the Suwa Basin, with Mount Fuji visible at the far left horizon across an expanse of water. Fishermen maneuver flat-bottomed boats in the foreground, their postures and poles rendered in the dynamic, active line that distinguishes Hokusai's figure work from the more static figures of Hiroshige's landscapes. The key block delineates the boats, figures, and far treeline with crisp, confident contours, while flat color blocks — characteristic Prussian blue (bero-ai, introduced to Japan in the early nineteenth century) for the water, grey-green for the distant shore — fill the registered areas without graduated shading. Fuji appears small and distant, its triangular silhouette positioned between the boat activity and the open sky. This spatial recession — from active foreground to distant emblematic mountain — characterizes many prints in the series and reflects Hokusai's interest in situating Fuji within the working landscape of Japan rather than treating it as an isolated monumental subject.