Symbols of Failure, Of Success: Samurai Culture and Martial Architecture

Abstract

Katsushika Hokusai’s (1760–1849) Nihon bridge at Edo (fig. 1), designed c.1830–34, almostcertainly received its stamp of approval from government censors with little or nohesitation. Although the design employs the exotic feature of Western one-pointperspective and was destined to be reproduced as a print – that is, the preferred mediumof Edo-period (1616–1868) counter-culture – for the ruling samurai elite who sat on thecensor board, Hokusai’s vision reflected the world as it should be. 1 At the centre of theimage sits one of Edo Castle’s turrets, the public face of the ruling military government...