No other motif appears more frequently in the work of Katsushika Hokusai than the humble rat, yet the pairing of a rat and a salmon is a rarity even in his prolific output. This unusual combination has intrigued scholars, as it departs from the more common themes of birds and flowers or dramatic landscapes that defined the late Edo period in Japan. The image’s playful subject matter, coupled with its unknown date and medium, has led some to speculate that it may have been created as a surimono—an elegant, privately commissioned print for a special occasion, perhaps a New Year’s greeting, when symbols of luck and abundance were especially prized. At the heart of Rat and salmon is a moment of quiet tension: a plump rat, poised on its haunches, stretches inquisitively toward a large, gleaming salmon laid out before it.

The rat’s delicate whiskers and twitching nose suggest both curiosity and caution, while the salmon—rendered with meticulous attention to its silvery scales—lies motionless, a prize or offering. In Japanese folklore, rats are associated with Daikokuten, the god of wealth, and salmon with perseverance and seasonal bounty. Hokusai’s composition, with its spare background and close focus, invites comparison to his contemporaneous Small Flowers and Birds series, yet here the narrative is more ambiguous: is the rat a thief, a guest, or a symbol of fortune about to be claimed? The precise origins and journey of Rat and salmon remain uncertain, as do many details of Hokusai’s lesser-known works.

If indeed a surimono, it would have circulated among a small circle of literati and patrons, prized for its wit and technical finesse. The lack of a signature or publisher’s mark complicates attribution, but the lively line and sensitive observation are hallmarks of Hokusai’s mature style. Today, the work is held in a private collection, occasionally surfacing in exhibitions devoted to the artist’s animal subjects, where it stands as a testament to Hokusai’s endless curiosity about the natural world and his delight in the unexpected.