Also written 衽継 or 膝継. Spline joints using small pieces of wood, tenons inserted into the slots, mortises, cut in…

The Buddhist acolyte form of the name *Kūkai 空海 (774-835; see *…

An offspring ridge. The shorter and outer of the two corner ridges which descend along the line of the adjoining surfaces…

Roof tiles used to make the offspring ridge *chigomune 稚児棟, a short…

Also aibashira 間柱. A white bamboo post with an odd number of joints, which is positioned beneath the eave overhang…

Lit. a strengthening bracket arm. An extension of an interior tie beam which terminates on the exterior as a bracket arm *…

Lit. knowledge-fist mudra. A mudra or hand gesture *in 印 formed by…

Lit. cross-stitch layout. Also read chigirinawa. Also written 蟄亀利縄. A generic term for various types of castle…

Also referred to as the First mandala. A small wooden painting. The oldest of the Three Jōdo Mandalas *…

Ch: Zhulin Qixian. Lit. Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. A pictorial theme based on seven Chinese literati who, to…

A yellow-brown paper made in China from bamboo fibers. Commonly known in Japan as *tōshi…

Also enjiraku or enchiraku 円地楽. A piece in imperial court dancing *…

The rounded-off top of a pillar. In the daibutsu style *daibutsuyō…

Also read chinju no yashiro. It is sometimes called chinjudō 鎮守堂; dojidō 土地堂; …

Also called chinkinbori 沈金彫. A technique developed in aizunuri 会津塗 that involves cutting a design into a…

Also called inukuguri 犬潜. The opening between the floor frame of the alcove *…

Also chinzō chōkoku, see *chinsō 頂相. Portrait sculptures of…

Also chinzō. Lit. head's appearance. A naturalistic portrait, sculpted or painted, of a Zen 禅 master's head.

A mat binding that covers more than half of the wale of a straw mat *tatami 畳…

A generic name for the decorative metal fittings *kazarikanagu 飾金具,…

A metal fitting *kanagu 金具 attached to the corners of a door and…

A pattern which consists of swastika manji 卍 motifs inside a square grid.

Also chiriōgi. A decorative, geometric pattern that resembles closed fan shapes on a square grid. It is found on…

A generic term used to express the distance between two flat, adjacent surfaces, between the surface of a wall and a post…

Dust or trash holes dug under the eaves of the tea hut *chashitsu 茶室, the…

An extremely low embankment *dote 土手, beside a castle moat *…

A multi-colored print which was rolled around a bar and then rubbed to give it crinkles and creases as if it had been…

1　The base of a lantern. Also dairin 台輪.

2　The base of a five-storied…

Also termed fujōnagashi 不浄流. A garbage drop. An area for discarding garbage and human and animal excrement from…

Also called *kirihikite 切引手. The catch on a sliding door used in…

A passageway in a castle, used to clean out the moat. An opening in the wall of the main compound of a castle *…

Lit. pond stroll style garden. A type of pond garden in which one walks around the pond. The most common kind of large…

Lit. pond appreciation style. A type of small garden in which the pond is viewed from a veranda or from inside a room,…

Lit. boating pond style. A type of pond-stroll garden *chisen kaiyūshiki…

1　The age divisions of peasants recruited by the state for labor service, building or civil/military…

Ch: Zhang Guolao. Also called Tongxuan (Jp: Tsūgen 通玄). One of the Daoist, eight immortals *…

Also written 庁舎 and read chō-no-ya or chōsha. A building in which priests gathered to discuss ceremonies…

Ch: Zhang Liang・Huang Shigong. Heroic Chinese warriors of the Han dynasty. 

Zhang Liang (BC 168-137), originally…

Lit. pictures of horse training. One theme of genre painting *fūzokuga 風俗画…

Also read nagaban. Also called naga-e 長絵. Lit. long format. A size of *…

Lit. Lantern diamond. A type of diamond pattern *hishi 菱 used on mullions *…

A small enclosed room in a large *shoin 書院 style structure built in the…

1　A curtained sleeping platform used by those of highest rank in shinden style *…

1　A built-in ornamental doorway found in the raised area *jōdan…

In ancient Japan, a complex of buildings within the Imperial Palace used for affairs of State, enthronement ceremonies, and…

Eyes carved directly into the surface of a wooden sculpture. This method was in general use until the late Heian period when…

Also written 丁字. A deep yellow, dull orange, or tan colored aromatic dye senryō 染料 made from the flowers or…

A decorative, geometric pattern based on the character 丁 chō that is found on transoms *…

Also termed chōrui 長塁, bōrui 防塁. A long defensive fortification consisting of a continuous, extended…

1　A hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物 that is vertically oriented…

Also kinjūza 禽獣座 and jūza 獣座. A pedestal or throne for a Buddhist image in the form of a bird or a…

Ch: Niaoke. Lit. bird's nest. A painting subject depicting the Tang dynasty eccentric priest Dōrin 道林 (Ch: Daolin), also…

A bird's-eye view. Also fukan zuhō 俯瞰図法 (view from above). One type of perspective popular in Japanese…

Also pronounced chōketsui. A garment with long sleeves. Seen, for example, on images of *…

Chasing. Carving patterns or letters with a chisel on metal work. A common technique is nanako-uchi 魚々子打 (fish-roe…

Ch: diexingtu. Lit. Picture of the Butterfly of Happiness, or Picture of the Butterfly and the Emperor's Visit. A…

Lit. carved transom. A decorative frieze consisting of carved panels fixed above the head of a door. Transom designs include…

The method of arranging stepping stones *tobi-ishi 飛石 in a straight line. If…

A painting and calligraphy technique where the brush is held perpendicular to the paper so that just the tip is used to…

Lit. straight line roof. Roofs without any curved surfaces. A hip roof *yosemune…

The chokushiden is the place where an envoy, chokushi 勅使, stays when he is sent to a shrine to offer…

A gate originally used only by the Emperor. Primarily found at Buddhist temples, it is usually a four-legged gate *…

An adze. Also written 手斧. A carpenters' tool with a curved handle fitted with a blade. It is used for rough finishing of…

A method of construction that employed long substantial beams called *chōnabari…

Transverse roof beams that span the distance from the center posts of a vernacular house with a thatched roof to the *…

Cutting decorative patterns with an adze *chōna 釿 on chestnut wood …

Also written 釿初, 手斧初. Also called kozukuri hajime 木造り始め or onohajime 斧始め. A carpenter's ceremony performed…

Also called chōnahatsuri 釿斫. A decorative pattern carved into the visible surface of a timber using an adze *…

Also kairen 開蓮. A lotus flower found on the head of a *Fudō Myōō …

Lit. Korean type mountain castle. A general term for castle structures in Japan that resemble those in ancient Korea.…

Also read kōzogami and kajigami 梶紙. Formerly called kokushi 穀紙 during the Heian period. Paper…

Carved lacquer. A generic term used for many carved lacquer techniques where layers of lacquer are applied to a thickness of…

Lit. hyper-naturalism. The idea of basing a garden, or a single element in it, on nature, but exaggerating the natural…

Ch: Zhutou. A painting subject depicting the Northern Song dynasty eccentric priest Zhimeng (J: Shimō 志蒙). He was known…

Ch: chaoyang duiyue. A Zen painting subject depicting a priest sewing in the morning sun (Jp: chōyō …

Lit. hand-washing stone. One of the seven trump stones *nanatsu-ishi 七つ石…

Lit. hand water bowl. A water basin used to rinse the hands or as a decorative element in gardens. Usually made of stone,…

Also written 手水屋. Also called suibansha 水盤舎 or temizuya 手水舎. Shrine or temple building for cleaning hands…

Lit. medium-size format. A size of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print. The term chūban…

A part of the mounting of a hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物. The chūberi…

The central, circular part of a round, eave-end, pendant tile *gatō 瓦当…

The middle base of a lantern *tōrō 灯籠 upon which rests the flame holder and…

Middle area. In upper class residences especially from the Momoyama period and through the Edo period, seating was…

The space *ai-no-ma 相の間 between the sanctuary *…

Lit. central hall. A hall situated between two Buddhist halls or a hall with corridors attached on either side. The most…

Lit. a middle-size book. A woodblock printed book, popular during the Edo period, which is one-half the size of a …

A term used in shrine architecture: a middle area between the *honden 本殿, *…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 supposedly intended to represent the 9th-century poet and…

Metal casting. A technique used in metalwork to produce vessels or sculptures by melting down metal and pouring it into a…

Lit. middle golden hall. An image hall *kondō 金堂 located at the center of…

1　Middle gate. The second or inner gate on the north-south axis of a temple compound in the ancient period…

A type of vernacular house *minka 民家, characterized by one or more wings or…

1　A Heian-period corridor intersected by gates. In the most elaborate Heian-period shinden style…

A term for a loft or attic occupying the roof space of a vernacular house *minka…

Lit. medieval architecture. Temple and shrine buildings erected during the Kamakura, Nanbokuchō, and Muromachi periods when…

A smoothing plane, used to further smooth the surface of timber after the general roughing plane *…

Also tenjō chūshinkazari 天井中心飾. Lit. center flower.

1　A group of decorative patterns in…

A pictorial subject matter taken from The Treasury of Loyal Retainers Chūshingura, an epic and well-loved story of…

Lit. center stone(s). A single stone or stone arrangement *ishigumi 石組,…

Also chūdai-no-son 中台の尊. The principal statue in a group of Buddhist statues. The central image in a triad or group…