Hokusai was an ukiyo-e artist who repeatedly moved and changed his name throughout his life, leaving behind numerous works in various styles. At the age of 42, he suddenly changed his painting name to "Hokusai", but the reason why he changed his name even to the point of abandoning his birthname of Sori Tawaraya, after becoming an accomplished painter of the Kano school, was because "I want to change myself as well." Was it the result of Hokusai's anguish in his quest to create "his own paintings?"