Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was an influential artist and printmaker. Born in Edo (modern day Tokyo), he displayed artistic talent from a young age, and at 19 formally joined the studio of ukiyo-e artist Katsukawa Shunsho. In addition to his famous woodblock prints—the most famous of which is The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1830-32)—he also illustrated board games, drawing instruction books, paper lanterns and dioramas. Hokusai produced more than 30,000 works in his long career, and greatly influenced the impressionist painters of the nineteenth century; Monet acquired 23 of his pieces, while Degas cited Hokusai as the inspiration behind his sketches of the human form.

The Tuttle Publishing Company was established in 1948 in Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo, Japan and is today regarded as a premier publisher and seller of books rooted in Asian culture, language and history.

Since its founding in 1948, Tuttle has published more than 6,000 books and today maintains an active backlist of around 2,000 titles.

Today, Tuttle publishes 150 new titles each year focusing on Asian languages, Asian food & cooking, gardening & flower arranging, crafts & origami, children's books, martial arts, Asian literature, games & graphic novels, Asian history & culture, health & fitness, self-help & Eastern religion, Asian art & collectibles, interior design & architecture, travel guides, maps, and business books.

Tuttle products are available in printed formats as well as popular eBook formats.