bokashi 暈

1　A gradation of colors or tones from dark to light or vice versa. One example is colorization of the decoration found on the non-penetrating tie beam *nageshi 長押, inside the first story of the *Gojū-no-tō 五重塔 (952) at Daigoji 醍醐寺 and the *Chūdō 中堂 of Byōdōin Hōōdō 平等院鳳凰堂 (1053), both in Kyoto.

2　Also written ぼかし. A shading *kumadori 隈取, technique used in painting where color is carefully graded from darker to lighter shades. The technique is said to have been perfected by artists of the Maruyama and Shijō schools *Maruyama Shijō-ha 円山四条派 in the Edo period and involves painting with two brushes at the same time, one suffused with color and one with water. The movement of the brush causes the color to softly blend with shades of color applied earlier.