<Li> The wave shows the level of control that Hokusai had reached . The image, although simple in its design is, however, the result of a long process, a methodical reflection . The basis of this method were laid out by Hokusai in his 1812 work Quick lessons of simplified drawing, in which he explains that every object can be drawn using the relationship of the circle and square . </Li> <P> This print is a yoko - e, that is, a landscape format produced to the ōban size, about 25 cm high by 37 cm wide . </P> <P> The composition comprises three main elements: the sea whipped up by a storm, three boats and a mountain . It includes the signature in the upper left - hand corner . </P> <P> The mountain with a snowcapped peak is Mount Fuji, which in Japan is considered sacred and a symbol of national identity, as well as a symbol of beauty . Mount Fuji is an iconic figure in many Japanese representations of famous places (meisho - e), as is the case in Hokusai's series of Thirty - six Views of Mount Fuji, which opens with the present scene . </P>

The great wave makes a statement about scale in part because