The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai. It is part of Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series that secured his fame both in Japan and overseas.

The mountain with a snow-capped peak is Mount Fuji, which in Japan is considered sacred and a symbol of national identity.

Sometimes assumed to be a tsunami, the wave is more likely to be a large rogue wave. It is about to strike three boats, symbolizing the force of nature and the weakness of human beings.