Ch: Efang Gong. The Efang Palace. A residence for concubines built by the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, Qin Shi Huangdi…

Erotic or suggestive pictures. Derived from the word "abunai あぶない" meaning dangerous or risqué. More explicit works…

Also written あぶりだし. Hidden pictures that are painted or printed on paper using rice-wine, alum, or citrus juice, which then…

A subject of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵, especially of *…

Lit. locks of hair/four cornered; "an elaborate three-looped knot, it also designates a young girl's coiffure" -…

A method used by Japanese painters to produce a copy *mosha 模写, and in that way…

Woodblock prints *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 colored in shades of indigo blue *…

Indigo. A plant of the polygonacede family from whose stems and leaves comes a blue dye and pigment for painting. Produced…

Lit. intermediate format size. *Ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints of two sizes, both…

Also aobanagami 青花紙, tsuyukusairo 露草色. A blue pigment extracted from the dayflower tsuyukusa 露草…

Ch: Ayuwangshan. Mt. Asoka. A mountain near Hangzhou (Jp: Kōshū 杭州) in Zhejiang (Jp: Sekkō 浙江) Province associated…

Also *ai-e 藍絵 or aizuri-e 藍摺絵. A type of woodblock print *…

Also akazuri-e 赤摺絵 and *hōsō-e 疱瘡絵. Woodblock prints produced in the…

Lit. red book. Forms of illustrated popular fiction, *kusazōshi 草双紙, with…

Lit. small red book. A type of *akahon 赤本. Woodblock printed picture books with…

Crimson; madder red. Known as *sohi そひ in the Nara and Heian periods. Originally…

A pictorial subject based on Chapter 13 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji). In the third month,…

Lit. autumn plants. Often rendered as autumn grasses, a common design motif in decorative arts and painting. Most frequently…

Lit. Dutch paintings, ranga 蘭画 of Akita. A Japanese work in a European style produced by the earliest school of…

A small river running through Takatsuki 高槻 City, Osaka (formerly Settsu 摂津 Province). Famous from Episode 6 of Ise…

A woodblock print designed and privately published to expose a secret indiscretion, then distributed to the home and friends…

A school of painting that arose in Kyoto during the 15th century, separate from the dominant painting ateliers of the Zen 禅…

Woodblock printed sheets designed by lesser-known *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists…

An Edo period illustrated book of popular fiction *kusazōshi 草双紙, with a…

Pictorial subject matter based on "Heartvine" Aoi, Chapter 9 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Lit. blue gold. An alloy of gold or silver which contains impurities that create a color with a bluish tinge. In painting,…

1　An old name for the pigment *iwa-rokushō …

Also *kiwame-in 極印. The printed censor seals that appear on an *…

Sliding screens *fusuma 襖, on which various images are painted including a…

A shrine in Izumi 和泉 Province, Osaka. Best known from a tale about the famous poet Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之 (ca. 868-945), who…

A type of *ehon 絵本, a woodblock-printed picture book. Small books of…

A repeating six-sided geometric design that resembles the leaves of the hemp plant, asa 麻. The design has six…

A pictorial subject based on "The Morning Glory" Asagao, Chapter 20 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale…

A color-name used in dyeing. A light blue color with a hint of green, made by adding yellow to a pale indigo dye *…

Lit. reed-hand script. A decorative, pictorialized style of calligraphy, de 手, developed during the 9th century in…

A mountain in Kanagawa Prefecture associated with legends of *Yamauba 山姥 and *…

Lit. indeterminate shading. A type of *fuki bokashi 拭きぼかし, a…

Lit. later seal. An artist's seal placed posthumously on a painting or calligraphy, sometimes by a well-meaning person…

Lit. a later signature. A forged signature put on an unsigned painting or work of calligraphy in order to increase its…

Also read nochizuri. Woodblock prints *ukiyo-e 浮世絵, produced…

Also written 厚葉. A thick type of paper called *ganpishi 雁皮紙. Because both…

Multi-colored woodblock prints *nishiki-e 錦絵, depicting the…

Lit. going down to the East. In the pre-Edo periods, traveling from the capital city of Kyoto toward the Eastern provinces…

Also written 吾妻錦絵, *nishiki-e 錦絵, azuma-e 東絵, *…

Lit. Eastern cottage. A pictorial subject based on "The Eastern Cottage" Azumaya, Chapter 50 of Genji…

Lit. azusa bow. The azusa 梓 tree is a kind of birch. The phrase serves as a pillow-word, makurakotoba…

1　A general term that refers to the title or preface, dai 題 or daiji 題辞, and the…

Also called Yukisuki-no-byōbu 悠紀主基屏風. Folding screens *byōbu 屏風 used…

Also written 題箋. Also called *harigedai 貼外題 and gedaigami 外題紙. A…

1　The traditional term for kinpeki nōsaiga 金碧濃彩画, a painting which has strong colors, particularly…

Japanese paper *washi 和紙 originally made from mayumi 檀 fibers (the…

Also written 伊達. Originally derogatory, the term implies a man arrogant and full of his own prowess; it later came to…

Lit. pictures of Tartars hunting. A popular screen painting theme in the late 16th and early 17th century. The pictures…

Also kindei 金泥 and gindei 銀泥.

1　Gold or silver foil ground to a fine powder to…

Lit. pasted paper leaf book. Also called *kochōsō 胡蝶装, as it is called in…

Lit. body carving. The carver of woodblocks for *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints who was…

A title of artistic or cultural advisors in the Ashikaga 足利 shogunate, established about the time of Yosimitsu 義満 (1358-1408…

A temple of the Tendai 天台 sect in Hidaka 日高, Wakayama Prefecture. The setting of a dramatic old Japanese tale first recorded…

Any painting produced with a type of thick, opaque paint made from inexpensive pigment and the white pigment, *…

Also 礬沙, 陶砂. Sizing. Dōsa is made by dissolving animal glue, *nikawa 膠…

Lit. Daoist Buddhist paintings. A genre of painting on Daoist (Taoist; Jp: Dōkyō 道教) and Buddhist (shaku 釈 from *…