Ukiyo-e Exhibitions Abroad: The Hokusai Craze

From Manchester to London and Seattle, museums around the world keep drawing crowds with Hokusai's Great Wave and its Edo-period companions.

Published October 26, 2026 at 12:22 PM JST | By Tokyo Paul

Quick answer: Museums outside Japan regularly stage ukiyo-e shows built around Hokusai, and 2026 is a busy year. The Whitworth in Manchester opened Beneath the Great Wave: Hokusai and Hiroshige in March, and Dulwich Picture Gallery in London brought together the complete set of 46 Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji prints in October, a first for the UK, according to Time Out London.

Hokusai's Great Wave is probably the best-known image in Japanese art, and its fame has made ukiyo-e a favorite subject for museum curators. People ask where to see Hokusai prints outside Japan, why these shows are so popular and what to know before visiting. This guide looks at recent exhibitions in the UK and United States, explains how woodblock prints were made and why they traveled so widely, and offers practical tips for seeing delicate prints at their best.

What ukiyo-e is and why it travels well

Ukiyo-e means pictures of the floating world, a genre that flourished from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Its artists made woodblock prints and paintings of beautiful people, kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers, landscapes, flowers and animals. Because prints were produced in numbers and sold at affordable prices, many copies survived, and they spread around the world.

Four craftspeople usually worked together. An artist created the design, a carver cut the blocks, a printer inked the blocks and pressed them by hand onto handmade paper, and a publisher financed and distributed the work. Nippon.com notes that early ukiyo-e prints sold for roughly the price of a bowl of soba noodles, which helps explain how popular they were.

Manchester: Beneath the Great Wave

The Whitworth, part of the University of Manchester, opened Beneath the Great Wave: Hokusai and Hiroshige in March 2026. Its centerpiece is Hokusai's Under the Wave off Kanagawa, the Great Wave, on loan from a private collection. The exhibition places the print in the wider world of ukiyo-e, with images of travel, nature and popular culture, and it focuses on the ambition and innovation of two artists, Hokusai and Hiroshige.

Pairing the two artists is a smart choice. Wikipedia describes Hokusai as known for bold, flat colors and scenes of everyday life, and Hiroshige as his greatest rival, known for atmospheric landscapes and travel series such as the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido.

London: all 46 Fuji views together

Time Out London reported that Dulwich Picture Gallery opened Hokusai: Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji from the Iuchi Collection on October 20, 2026. The show brings together the complete set of 46 prints, the original 36 plus 10 added later, which the report says is the first time this has happened in the UK. The prints date from 1830 to 1833.

Highlights include a rare blue impression of Clear Day with a Southern Breeze, known as Blue Fuji, of which the report says only seven comparable impressions survive, and three well-preserved prints of the Great Wave. Check the gallery's website for exact run dates and ticketing.

The United States: Seattle and touring shows

In the United States, the Seattle Art Museum presented Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence from the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from October 2023 to January 2024. Organized by the Boston museum, it included more than 100 works by Hokusai and more than 200 by other artists, tracing the influence of his teachers, rivals and admirers on later artists such as Yoshitomo Nara, Chiho Aoshima and Helen Frankenthaler.

The British Museum's touring exhibition Beyond the Great Wave also traveled to the Suntory Museum of Art in Tokyo in 2022 and to the Bowers Museum in the United States from October 2023 to January 2024. It explored Hokusai's personal beliefs through paintings, drawings, prints and illustrated books up to his death at age 90.

Why audiences keep coming back

Part of the appeal is recognition: nearly everyone has seen the Great Wave on souvenirs or in design, and an exhibition lets visitors meet the real print. Nippon.com notes that the Great Wave appears on Japan's newest 1,000 yen banknote, which entered circulation in July 2024, and that a 2014 Paris exhibition drew about 350,000 visitors.

There is also a history of cross-cultural admiration. From the 1870s, the Western trend known as Japonisme brought ukiyo-e to Impressionists such as Degas, Manet and Monet and to Post-Impressionists such as Van Gogh. Debussy's La Mer was also inspired by Hokusai and Hiroshige. Modern shows continue that conversation.

How to see prints at their best

Prints are sensitive to light, so museums often display them in low light and may rotate works during longer exhibitions. Arrive with time to look slowly, since fine details such as gradations of blue, embossing and tiny figures reward close viewing.

Book timed tickets when they are offered, check whether the specific print you want is on view that week, and use the museum's guides to learn what to look for. A magnifier is not usually needed, but a quiet moment in front of a single print often reveals more than a quick walk-through of the whole gallery.

If you are planning a trip to Japan

Exhibitions abroad make a good warm-up for Japan, where specialist museums show ukiyo-e in rotating displays. Learning to recognize the series, artists and techniques ahead of time makes a visit more rewarding. Hokusai produced 102 images of Mount Fuji in total, according to nippon.com, so there is always something new to find. Always confirm opening hours and current exhibitions on official museum sites.

A craze with deep roots

The current excitement is the latest chapter in a long story. Collectors, dealers and artists carried ukiyo-e to Paris and Boston long ago, and museums are still discovering new ways to present it. For visitors, each show is an invitation to look closely at a world of everyday beauty.

Want to go deeper? Tokyo Paul's book Ukiyo-e & Hokusai: Beginner's Guide to 100 Japanese Prints is available on Amazon.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are the best places to see Hokusai's Great Wave outside Japan?

The British Museum holds an early version of the print, and touring exhibitions bring the print to other cities. In 2026, the Whitworth in Manchester features it as the centerpiece of Beneath the Great Wave, and Dulwich Picture Gallery in London shows three well-preserved impressions in its Fuji exhibition.

Why is Hokusai so popular?

His bold design, dramatic use of color and everyday subjects have broad appeal, and the Great Wave is instantly recognizable. Nippon.com notes that it is on Japan's newest 1,000 yen banknote, and Wikipedia describes the Western enthusiasm for ukiyo-e known as Japonisme as inspiring Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists.

What does ukiyo-e mean?

Ukiyo-e means pictures of the floating world. The term refers to Japanese woodblock prints and paintings made from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, showing beauties, actors, landscapes and daily life. Prints were made by a team of designer, carver, printer and publisher.

Keep Exploring

More guides from Tokyo Paul: Hokusai: The Artist Behind the Great Wave, Hokusai's Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji: A Beginner's Guide and Hokusai Manga: The Sketchbooks That Gave Manga Its Name.