Katsushika Hokusai, 'Rainstorm Beneath the Summit' (Sanka haku'u), a colour woodblock print

This print is only superficially different in composition toHokusai's 'South Wind, Clear Sky', and yet the two designs are deliberately contrasting, down to the smallest detail. The calm, bright dawn has given way to agitation and darkness, as a sudden storm erupts around the base of the mountain, with jagged lightning forming an untidy echo of the slopes.The manner of drawing Fuji's triple summit with a deep ravine on the left side is interpreted to show the 'back' (that is, north) side of Mt Fuji. If this is so, then Hokusai's intention may have been to set up poetic contrasts between this and the previous design, of front/back, morning/evening, fair weather/storm.