Signed: Zen Hokusai I’itsu hitsu; ōban, yoko-e, 25.0 x 37.0 cm; nishiki-e with fukibokashi

From “36 Views of Mount Fuji”. Rising up in the middle of the picture is the thick trunk of a giant cedar tree on a mountain pass. Three men are attempting to stretch their arms around it in order to measure its girth. In the background, Fuji rises up majestically, in a view from the northwest. The first edition of this print – like the previous one – was a pure aizuri-e and bore the stamp of the censor and the publisher. This print, by contrast, was executed in blue, grey and two shades of green.

F. Tikotin, La Tour de Peilz (February, 1964)
Riese Collection #124

Travellers put down their packs and joining hands, try to measure the girth of the enormous tree. Fuji is seen from its western side, and looms solemnly above the travellers, wreathed in cloud.
The earliest impressions of this print are printed entirely in blue and have the seals of censor and publisher. This impression is printed in blue, grey and two shades of green.

Reproduced in: Ingelheim catalogue, no. 107.