Ch: Ma Shihuang. An ancient, legendary practitioner of Daoist arts and horse doctor during the rule of Emperor Huang (Ch:…

A circular nail head cover *kugikakushi 釘隠, placed over a nail to attach a…

Ch: Mei Fu. Chinese immortal shown in painting as riding a luan (Jp: ran 鸞), a mythical bird similar to a…

Lit. double format. A size of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print used for full-color woodblock…

Lit. plum post. A wooden post used to support the heavy but structurally weak branches of old plum trees.

Lit. plum eaves gate. Also written 梅見門. A type of gate used in tea gardens *roji…

Also kōchakuzai 膠着剤. Binder, vehicle. A liquid mixed with a pigment *ganryō…

Lit. horse-mouth mudra. A mudra or hand gesture *in 印, formed by placing both palms…

Lit. bind (Sk: bandha). A mudra or hand gesture *in 印, formed by clasping both…

A cascade. A type of garden waterfall in which the water falls at a 90 degree angle. One common type of baku is the…

Lit. tapir nose. Also called bakugashira 獏頭. A type of nosing *kibana…

Lit. airing. Also called mushiboshi 虫干. The practice of inspecting and airing valuables that have been in storage…

A heavy wooden plank placed above the ceiling of the first story of a two-storied pagoda *…

Also pronounced hanbei. A single, free-standing, short timber fence placed as a guard in front of the north, east,…

Also called hanchi 畔池 written with the character ばん池, to indicate a 'halved pond.' Lit. levee pond. A type of…

Short for zaiban shijō 在番支城. A branch castle *shijō 支城, with…

Also kyakushin 客神, ishin 夷神. Also written 蛮神 banshin. Gods that were thought to have originated…

A system used to label each structural members of a building before construction, while being dismantled for repair, or…

A gigaku mask *gigakumen 伎楽面, representing a Brahmin (the highest…

Also written 馬棟 or 波連. The most important tool used in the process of woodblock printmaking. A baren is made up of…

Also read Basūsen. Basu, the Immortal, sennin 仙人. An Indian sage, whose Sanskrit name, Vasu, may…

Also written 髪頭, 鉢頭, 撥頭. A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 and the mask of a terse,…

Sk: Hayagriva. Also called Batō Myōō 馬頭明王. The Horse-headed *Kannon 観音 in an angry, …

Alternative term for a shop-front shutter and folding table *agemise …

Also written ベンガラ, 紅柄, or 紅殻. Sometimes pronounced benigara. Red earth pigment. A bright, purplish-red pigment *…

Discriminating Jade from Stone Collection, a late 17th-century miscellany on art which ranges from the discussion of tea…

A black-line hand-colored woodblock print *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 that began to be…

A red dye, senryō 染料, and pigment *ganryō 顔料, made from the safflower…

Also murasaki-e 紫絵; beni-nuki 紅抜き. Woodblock prints which completely omit bright vermilion *…

Primitive polychrome woodblock prints in *ukiyo-e 浮世絵. Appeared after *…

Musashibō Benkei 武蔵坊弁慶, a semi-legendary warrior-monk of the 12th century, who was associated with Minamoto no *…

Also 辮髪. A long rope of hair hanging down the left side of the face and the left shoulder of a sculpted figure.…

Also called benzaitendō 弁才天堂. A small structure that houses an image of Benten 弁天 (Sk: Sarasvati, *…

Also written 瓣財天. Sk: Sarasvati. A Buddhist goddess of music, learning, eloquence, wealth, longevity, and protection from…

Also bero-ai ベロ藍. Prussian blue or Berlin blue. A synthetic blue paint made from ferric ferrocyanide, imported to…

Also called akujō beshimi 悪尉べし見, depending upon the school of Noh mask *nōmen…

A variety of mandala *mandara 曼荼羅 of a relatively small scale and…

Miscellaneous Record of Classified Sacred Images, a late Heian compendium of Buddhist iconography. Also called the…

Also bessha 別社, edamiya 枝宮, or edayashiro 枝社.

A god is enshrined or venerated as being…

Also called *gobō 御坊. In the Nagoya area, it is called kakesho…

A term which comes from the Portuguese for painting with oil pigments on the reverse side of glass. Fifty such paintings are…

Lit. pictures of beautiful women. Pictures depicting the beauty of the appearance, manners, and customs of women. The word…

Also sōgyō 僧形. A statue of a figure with a round shaved head, usually representing a Buddhist priest. Most commonly…

Lit. tail stone. A stone in a rock garden that represents the tail of a tortoise *…

A decorative pattern composed of three joined hexagonal shapes. It is named after the guardian deity *…

An abbreviation of *Bishamonten 毘沙門天, one of the four heavenly kings, or *…

A temple hall dedicated to *Bishamonten 毘沙門天, one of the four gods, or *…

A deity also called *Tamonten 多聞天 when portrayed as a member of the *…

Also written 枇杷板.

1　The board inserted between a bottle strut *…

Ch: Pipaxing. A painting subject based on the Song of the Lute, a narrative poem by the mid Tang dynasty poet, Bai…

Bizen 備前 ware. Pottery made in the Inbe 伊部 village of Bizen Province, now known as Wakegun 和気郡 in Okayama Prefecture. The…

Sk: bodhi druma. The name of the tree under which the historical Buddha *Shaka 釈迦…

Various block carving and printing techniques used to create gradated tones (shading) on woodblock prints, particularly 19th…

1　A gradation of colors or tones from dark to light or vice versa. One example is colorization of the…

Lit. pictures of horses at pasture. One type of genre painting *fūzokuga 風俗画…

Lit. ink plum. Ch: momei. Paintings of plum (actually prunus) rendered in sumi 墨 ink. Along with ink…

Ch: mozhu. Painting of bamboo rendered in *sumi 墨 ink. Bamboo…

Lit. herdboy and ox. Ch: mutong muniu. A Chinese painting theme long popular in Japanese ink painting. The subject…

Lit. ink play. Ch: moxi. The literati conception of painting as a form of self-expression, meant to convey ideas…

Ch: molan. Paintings of wild orchids rendered in *sumi 墨 ink. Related to…

Black ink brush writing by Zen 禅 priests, as well as by laymen who practiced Zen meditations and wrote Buddhist sermons, or…

A window on the side wall of an alcove *tokonoma 床の間, used to provide light…

Lit. Sanskrit motif. A Sanskrit character, bonji 梵字, that decorates pendants *…

A box for sutras. Indian sutras were written on long, narrow palm leaves. The leaves were stacked one top of the other, with…

Sk: Brahma. A major Hindu deity thought to be responsible for creating the world. Along with *…

A lookout tower set atop the roof of a residence *kyokan 居館, usually a…

1　Abbreviation of bodai satta 菩提薩た, a transliteration of the Sanskrit bodhisattva (Pari bodhisatta…

1　Abbreviation of botan karakusagawara 牡丹唐草瓦. A roof tile, often an eaves-end tile, whose pendant…

Lit. straight corner.
1　Buildings of any traditional type without curves on structural members under the…

A mask used in kyōgen 狂言 plays to represent a demon. Glaring eyes, a wide jaw, and bared teeth give the mask a…

A Chinese floral pattern *karakusamon 唐草文, composed of curling grape vines…

Also abbreviated to *budō karakusa 葡萄唐草. A grape-patterned arabesque used…

Imperial court dance that is accompanied by Imperial court music, gagaku 雅楽, as performed from the late 8th century…

Paintings of *bugaku 舞楽, a classical Japanese court dance that sometimes used…

Masks worn when performing certain of the *bugaku 舞楽 dances developed from…

Lit. garden of the Bugaku lineage. A style of Japanese garden developed in the middle of the Edo period by Ōishi Bugaku 大石武学…

Ch: Fenggan. The Tang-dynasty priest noted for his eccentric behavior, who was usually depicted with his pet tiger. Fenggan…

A style of residential architecture in use among the bushi 武士 or warrior class. As defined by the early 20th-…

Also jukubukku 熟仏供, butsuhan 仏飯, or butsushō 仏餉. Cooked rice made as an offering to the Buddha,…

Narrative paintings, reliefs, or group sculptures of Buddhist stories (sutras or legends), which were made in great…

Also bunbō shigan 文房四玩, bunbō shiyū 文房四友, and bunbō shikō 文房四候. Lit. the four treasures of the…

A general term for objects like brushes, paper, ink *sumi 墨, and inkstone *…

Bunchō's Treatise on Painting, an early 18th-century miscellany on painters, painting techniques, tools, and…

A class of mounting for hanging scrolls *kakemono 掛物, that was originally…

Ch: wenrenhua. Lit. literati painting.  A type of painting in China, Korea, and Japan. In Japan, the term …

Lit. divided-ridge style. Often abbreviated to buntō 分棟 and sometimes referred to as betsumune-zukuri…

A corridor that enclosed an open area or surrounded a space in which buildings were erected. A term from the 7th-9th century…

Also called *sharitō 舎利塔. A reliquary in a stupa or pagoda. These could be…

Also bukkō 仏工, zōbusshi 造仏師. A sculptor of Buddhist statues. 

The term was first used in the…

The lineage of a Buddhist sculptor *busshi 仏師, often presented as a…

A workshop or school of Buddhist sculptors *busshi 仏師. Bussho usually…

Also called gokusho 御供所. A Buddhist building used to prepare ritual food offerings called busshō 仏餉, *…

Lit. Buddha's foot(print) stone; also written 仏足跡 (footprints of the Buddha). A stone allegedly bearing the impression of…

Lit. stage framework. A framing member that runs the entire width of the upper part of a *…

Lit. proscenium wall. The wall at the front part of a *kabuki 歌舞伎 stage.

Also Butchōson 仏頂尊. Sk: Usnisa. Lit. Buddha-Crown. A class of Esoteric Buddhist deities generally believed to be…

An altar or tabernacle in the form of a podium, table, recess, or cabinet used in the sanctuaries of temples and in private…