This woodcut is from Hokusaiˇs series of woodblock prints titled ˇ36 Views of Mount Fujiˇ. Hokusai (1760-1849) was first and foremost a ˉukiyo-eˇ (floating world) painter of the Edo period. In this woodcut, he shows Mount Fuji in the background. The raging waves in this illustration are often mistakenly called ˉtsunamiˇ; however, as the waves are offshore, they are more correctly known in Japanese as ˉokinamiˇ. A tsunami caused by an offshore 8.9 magnitude earthquake devastated northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011. Thousands of people were killed, and nuclear power plants were damaged, leading to widespread fears of radiation poisoning in the region.