In 1760, a boy was born in Edo, the Japan we now call Tokyo. He picked up a brush at six years old, and he never really put it down. His name was Katsushika Hokusai, though he changed it more than thirty times over his life, and he moved house close to a hundred times, reportedly because he preferred painting to cleaning. He would have loved a good dishcloth.
For decades, Hokusai worked and struggled. He made illustrations, book covers and posters, and success came slowly. Then, in his early seventies, an age when most people have long since retired, he created the work that would make him immortal. It was a series called Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji, and one print in it would travel the world.
A giant wave rises over three fishing boats, its foam curling into claws as if the sea itself were reaching out. Far in the distance, small and calm, sits Mount Fuji. The idea is beautifully simple. Nature is enormous and unpredictable, and humans are small, but they keep rowing anyway. Hokusai even used a rare, vivid blue pigment imported from Europe, which gave the sea its unforgettable depth.
He kept creating until the very end, convinced that his best work was still ahead of him. He believed that at one hundred and ten, every line and dot he drew would be truly alive. Alas, he passed away at eighty eight, and his wave went on to inspire Monet, Van Gogh and countless artists after them.
Here at Neuhabitat, we think the sea deserves respect too. Every year, mountains of single use plastic wipes and sponges end up in our oceans. That is why we brought Hokusai's wave into your home, printed across our brand new extra large Swedish dishcloth.
It is bigger than the standard cloth, so it wipes more, dries more and lasts longer. It is soft, quick drying and made to replace the paper towels and plastic sponges in your kitchen. It also happens to be a piece of art that makes washing up feel a little less ordinary.
Hokusai kept going against the biggest wave imaginable. Your small daily choices, a cloth instead of a wipe, can help calm the real ones.