One thing that strikes me about this work, and Hokusai's other very popular wood block prints, is that he was a total perfectionist.
He would get things juuuust right, with the colour and the production process, with each copy made, then score/scratch the original so further prints could not be made to a different fashion/standard.
For him to be alive and see bright and garish "Great wave" socks, jumpers, room rugs, key rings and the like would probably cause him such a great conniption he'd drop right back dead again.
But such is the life of popular art work -- it survives its creator and lives by new rules over time.
He would get things juuuust right, with the colour and the production process, with each copy made, then score/scratch the original so further prints could not be made to a different fashion/standard.
For him to be alive and see bright and garish "Great wave" socks, jumpers, room rugs, key rings and the like would probably cause him such a great conniption he'd drop right back dead again.
But such is the life of popular art work -- it survives its creator and lives by new rules over time.