Viewing the Sunset over Ryōgoku Bridge from the Onmaya Embankment (Onmayagashi yori Ryōgokubashi sekiyō o miru), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei) ca. 1830-31 Katsushika Hokusai Japanese With the view of Ryōgoku Bridge in the distance, Hokusai focuses on a ferry carrying an assortment of merchants, monks, and a bird catcheridentifiable by the tall rod he carrieshome after a day's work. The mood is subdued as night gradually overtakes the evening sky and the ferry's passengers nod beneath their broad hats or gaze at the distant bridge. While the foreground is sharply defined in the aizuri blue-line technique, the background view of the bridge, boats, and far shore is executed in lineless silhouetted forms of mute grey and green. Twilight has cast the river view in a dreamy hushed tone.A note of tension is inserted by the needle-sharp bird catcher's rod shooting in the sky. This vertical element is played off against the squat pyramid of Mount Fuji, et