One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki), GoToba’in

In 1836, at the age of seventy-six, Hokusai launched his last major woodblock print series. The subject was an ingenious presentation of an ancient anthology of poetry completed in 1214 by Fujiwara Teika (1162-1241), which contained one hundred works by as many renowned Japanese poets. Thorough knowledge of Hyakunin isshu (The anthology of one hundred poets) continued through the centuries to be a basic element in the repertoire of the literate person. Hokusai amended the title of his series to "The Anthology of one hundred poets as told by the nurse or old woman" and affected the perspective of a simple, uncomplicated old woman through whose eyes we observe the passing scene. These images are juxtaposed with the ancient poems, recorded in small squares in the upper right of each work.