365 Views of Mt. Fuji: Algorithms of the Floating World

Curator Keizo Yukawa flees a dead-end job in Tokyo to head a new museum devoted to 365 paintings of Mt. Fuji by the genius Takenoko, who died 100 years ago. Takenoko's legacy of madness infects each member of the Ono family, who own the Views but do not get along. Yukawa's manipulation by the Onos and his fascination with an algorithmically controlled daughter lead to many strange happenings and his ultimate disintegration. Symbolizing the fragmentation of mind in modern Japan, this novel uses threadlike character "bytes" and hundreds of Hokusai-inspired illustrations to suggest the nonlinear world below the high-tech veneer.