Mochi Making

Mochi Making, attributed to Katsushika Hokusai around 1845, captures a beloved seasonal scene of Edo life: the communal pounding of glutinous rice into mochi during the New Year holidays. Hokusai, by this point in his eighties, had spent much of his career observing the everyday labor of artisans and townspeople, and the print extends the kind of street-level reportage already familiar from his Manga sketchbooks and earlier genre prints. A group of figures clusters around a wooden mortar, one man wielding a heavy mallet while another reaches in to turn and moisten the dough between strokes. Children and onlookers watch the choreography, and the bustle of preparation is conveyed through Hokusai's economical, slightly exaggerated drawing of bodies in motion. The design exemplifies how Edo ukiyo-e was used not only for famous places and beautiful women but also for documenting the textures of urban work and festivity. The Art Institute of Chicago impression demonstrates the warm, restrained color and confident linework of late Hokusai. As an ukiyo-e print Mochi Making sits within a broader tradition of seasonal imagery, but its draftsmanship places it firmly within the artist's own world: every figure, however small, is given a clear role and a distinct posture. For viewers who know Hokusai chiefly from his Mount Fuji designs, this kind of genre print reveals the human curiosity that underlay his entire approach to landscape and figure work alike.