Artists

Mori Yūzan

Mori Yūzan (森雄山, 1869–1917) created with the pattern book Hamonshū one of the best-known collections of Japanese wave patterns.

Published on: Dec 6, 2025

Kakemono by Mori Yūzan: full moon over a misty landscape, in ink. — Full moon over misty landscape – kakemono by Mori Yūzan (森雄山) (detail)

In a nutshell

Mori Yūzan (森雄山) was a Japanese painter active from the mid-Meiji to the early Taishō period (1869–1917). He became known above all for the pattern book Hamonshū, published in 1903 in three volumes and devoted exclusively to wave patterns in monochrome woodblock print. It was intended as a reference work for craftsmen who made ceramics, religious implements, and sword fittings. Today it is regarded as one of the best-known Japanese pattern books and is freely accessible.

Mori Yūzan (森雄山): the man behind the waves

Mori Yūzan (森雄山, 1869–1917) was a Japanese painter active from the middle Meiji to the early Taishō period. His fame rests less on his hanging scrolls than on a book – and that book has shaped the perception of Japanese wave patterns worldwide.

Hamonshū: a pattern book from 1903

In 1903, Yūzan's Hamonshū appeared in three volumes. It contains nothing but waves: stylized water patterns printed in monochrome woodblock print, page after page, in ever new variations – breaking surf, calm swell, whirlpools, spray. It was conceived not as an art book, but as a reference work for craftsmen who made ceramics, religious implements, and sword fittings and needed a repertoire of usable forms.

It is precisely this purpose that explains its impact. The book is now freely accessible and is used by designers worldwide as a source of forms – a pattern book from the Meiji period that has fulfilled its original purpose for over a century.

The wave pattern in Japanese design

Waves are among the oldest motifs in Japanese ornamentation. The seigaiha, the pattern of concentric semicircles, is already found on vessels from early times; as a family crest, textile pattern, and ceramics decoration, the wave remains omnipresent to this day. Its appeal lies in the fact that it brings movement into a repeatable form – something that can be continued indefinitely and yet never appears static.

Moon and mist: the night scene

In painting, Yūzan worked within the usual repertoire of his time. A full moon over a misty landscape is among the most tranquil motifs of Japanese ink painting: the moon is not painted but left blank, and the mist emerges from bleeding ink. Such hanging scrolls belong to autumn, when moon-viewing has its fixed place in the yearly cycle.