Kirifuri Waterfall at Mount Kurokami in Shimotsuke Province

Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542–1616) chose the mountainous region north of Edo as the site of his mausoleum. The construction of roadways into the area made it a popular destination for ordinary travelers, who journeyed from afar to pay their respects to the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. Visitors also enjoyed the area’s natural beauty, which included several spectacular waterfalls. Hokusai’s vision of Kirifuri Falls is an especially dynamic image in his waterfall series. He depicted only the lower portion of the two-tier falls but has it dominate the picture, thereby emphasizing its scale and power. The diminutive human figures—viewing the falls from a spit of land in the foreground and walking and kneeling precariously partway up the steep slope—accentuate the falls’ grandeur.