1 A Nara and Heian periods term used to refer to any kind of design, which included a sketch for a statue or painting or a plan for a garden.
2 Since the Kamakura period, the term has been used to refer to decorative low-relief carvings or ink paintings found on, beams *hari 梁; nosings *kibana 木鼻; bracket arms *hijiki 肘木; frog's-leg struts *kaerumata 蟇股; armpit-fillers *tabasami 手狭, and foliate panels *kōzama 格狭間. Designs include: arabesques *karakusa 唐草; spirals *uzumaki 渦巻; leaves; clouds *unmon 雲文; and waves. A few examples of eyō are found on pre-13th-century frog's-leg struts and foliate panels on Buddhist platforms *shumidan 須弥壇. They became popular in the Kamakura period with the introduction of Zen and daibutsu styles of architecture *zenshūyō 禅宗様 and *daibutsuyō 大仏様 from Song China, when the variety of designs and uses gradually increased. Bracket arms decorated with eyō are called *eyō hijiki 絵様肘木.