| Title | Contains Image(s) | Description | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|
| arashikō ganna 荒仕工鉋 | A type of smoothing plane. The arashikō ganna is the first smoothing plane used on a piece of timber, planking… |
Architecture, Tools | |
| aratame-in 改印 | Also *kiwame-in 極印. The printed censor seals that appear on an *… |
Art History, Painting | |
| aratsuchi 荒土 | Lit. rough clay. Clay mixed with other materials (known as *susa すさ),… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| araumi-no-shōji 荒海障子 | Sliding screens *fusuma 襖, on which various images are painted including a… |
Art History, Painting | |
| ari 蟻 | Lit. dovetail shape. Also arigata 蟻形. The generic term for any part of a joint in a dovetail shape. The earliest… |
Architecture, Joints | |
| aridome 蟻留 | ✓ | A type of right angle, mitered, housed, and dovetail joint used mainly on flat timber as, for example, in the upper… |
Architecture, Joints |
| Aridōshi 蟻通 | 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… |
Art History, Painting | |
| arigata aigakihozo 蟻形相欠ほぞ | Also arigata aihozo 蟻形相ほぞ. Dovetail halving. A type of half-lap dovetail joint *… |
Architecture, Joints | |
| arigoshi 蟻腰 | The name of one section of a tea scoop. It is the deep indentation at the back part of a bamboo tea scoop *… |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| arihozo 蟻ほぞ | ✓ | Lit. dovetail tenon. Also *arikake 蟻掛. A tenon shaped like a dove's tail with… |
Architecture, Joints |
| arikabe 蟻壁 | 1 A narrow horizontal strip of wall between a long, light, binding beam *… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| arikake 蟻掛 | 1 A dovetail joint with the dovetail tenon cut at the butt end about half the depth of one beam. It then is… |
Architecture, Joints | |
| arikubi 蟻首 | Lit. dovetail neck.
|
Architecture, Joints | |
| ariotoshi 蟻落 | Also called *arikake 蟻掛. |
Architecture, Joints | |
| aritsugi 蟻継 | ✓ | A dovetail joint used to attach the ends of two boards. The tenon *hozo ほぞ or… |
Architecture, Joints |
| arizuri 蟻吊 | Also written 蟻釣. A type of angled wood joint. A dovetail tenon *arihozo… |
Architecture, Joints | |
| asa-no-ha byōshibon 麻の葉表紙本 | A type of *ehon 絵本, a woodblock-printed picture book. Small books of… |
Art History, Painting | |
| asa-no-ha 麻の葉 | ✓ | A repeating six-sided geometric design that resembles the leaves of the hemp plant, asa 麻. The design has six… |
Art History, Painting |
| Asagao 朝顔 | A pictorial subject based on "The Morning Glory" Asagao, Chapter 20 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale… |
Art History, Painting | |
| asagaokugi 朝顔釘 | ✓ | Lit. morning glory nail. A two-pronged nail bent into a right angle for the purpose of hanging a flower vase. The nail… |
Architecture, Tea Houses |
| asagi-iro 浅葱色 | A color-name used in dyeing. A light blue color with a hint of green, made by adding yellow to a pale indigo dye *… |
Art History, Painting | |
| asakurajō 朝倉尉 | A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing an old man. The broad bone structure, direct… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| asao 麻紵 | Also written 麻緒, 麻苧, asahimo 麻紐, asa-ito 麻糸. Cord or thread made from hemp, asa 麻, and Chinese… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| ashi 足 | Lit. leg or foot. Also 脚, read ashi or kyaku. |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| ashiage 足揚 | 1 A structure erected in the central open space, miyaa みやあ, of a settlement in Okinawa Prefecture… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings | |
| ashiagekura 足揚倉 | Also simply called *ashiage 足揚. A type of thatched storehouse set upon a… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| ashiba 足場 | Scaffold or scaffolding. A temporary, elevated structure used to support workmen, tools, etc. when erecting a building.… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| ashide 葦手 | Lit. reed-hand script. A decorative, pictorialized style of calligraphy, de 手, developed during the 9th century in… |
Art History, Painting | |
| Ashigarayama 足柄山 | A mountain in Kanagawa Prefecture associated with legends of *Yamauba 山姥 and *… |
Art History, Painting | |
| ashigatame 足固 | Also written 脚固, 足堅. Strong, horizontal ties which strengthen the posts beneath the floor of a timber building by… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| ashihozo 足ほぞ | Lit. foot-tenon. A rectangular piece of wood that projects from the sole of a standing wooden statue and fits into a… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| ashimoto 足元 | 1 A general term for all structural members from the foundation *dodai… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| ashimotogaki 足下垣 | Lit. footstep fence. A generic term for a fence made alongside a path. It is similar to the *… | Architecture, Gardens | |
| ashimotogawara 足元瓦 | Also called *hire 鰭 or *hiregawara… |
Architecture, Roofing Tiles | |
| ashiwake 葦分け | Lit. split reed. A style of round-stone paving *tama-ishijiki 玉石敷 of the… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| Ashuku 阿閦 | Ashuku, also Ashiku. Immovable One (Sk: Aksobhya). The name of a Buddha today generally associated with Esoteric Buddhism… |
Art History, Iconography | |
| Ashura 阿修羅 | Sk: Asura. Also abbreviated to shura 修羅. Among the Indo-Iranians, the term Asura Ashura in Avestan,… |
Art History, Iconography | |
| Asuka jidai 飛鳥時代 | The Asuka period (538/552-645). So called because the capital of the new Yamato 大和 region was located in the Asuka district… |
Art History, General Terms | |
| atari 当り | 1 The part of an architectural element in which one member meets another. Different from a joint in that it… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings | |
| atenashi bokashi 当てなしぼかし | Lit. indeterminate shading. A type of *fuki bokashi 拭きぼかし, a… |
Art History, Painting | |
| ato-in 後印 | Lit. later seal. An artist's seal placed posthumously on a painting or calligraphy, sometimes by a well-meaning person… |
Art History, Painting | |
| atorakkan 後落款 | Lit. a later signature. A forged signature put on an unsigned painting or work of calligraphy in order to increase its… |
Art History, Painting | |
| atozuri 後摺 | Also read nochizuri. Woodblock prints *ukiyo-e 浮世絵, produced… |
Art History, Painting | |
| atsuhirabashira 厚平柱 | A type of rectangular pillar employed in the construction of a gate at a castle or dwelling. This pillar, front to back, is… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| atsuyō 厚様 | Also written 厚葉. A thick type of paper called *ganpishi 雁皮紙. Because both… |
Art History, Painting | |
| ausaka 合坂 | Also read aisaka. A type of warrior run *mushabashiri 武者走, where… |
Architecture, Castles | |
| awa-ishi 阿波石 | Lit. sea-foam stone. A type of blue stone *ao-ishi 青石, produced in modern… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| awaotoko 阿波男 | A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 of the basic emaciated *… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| aware あわれ | The capacity to be moved deeply, an aesthetic ideal associated with Heian period literature and aristocratic values. An… |
Art History, General Terms | |
| awasejōgi 合せ定規 | A wooden measuring gauge *jōgi 定規, generally, 6-7 cm wide, 35-45 cm long, and 0.9… |
Architecture, Tools | |
| awataguchiyaki 粟田口焼 | Awataguchi 粟田口 kiln. Also called awatayaki 粟田焼. A ceramic ware that was made in Awataguchi, at the foot of… |
Art History, Crafts | |
| awate-e あわて絵 | Multi-colored woodblock prints *nishiki-e 錦絵, depicting the… |
Art History, Painting | |
| aya 綾 | A figured or diagonally-woven twill fabric. |
Art History, Crafts | |
| ayakashi 怪士 | Also written 霊神, 網像, 危. Noh masks *nōmen 能面, representing a wraith or a… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| Ayakiri 綾切 | Also written 阿夜岐理 and called Aikirijo 愛嗜女. A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 and a… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| ayasuji 綾筋 | ✓ | Also pronounced shimesuji 〆筋. The parallel chevron lines on the front or sides of a lion-mouth roof tile *… |
Architecture, Decorations |
| azegi 校木 | ✓ | Also pronounced azeki. Chamfered logs used to build walls for storehouses *… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| azehikinoko 畔挽鋸 | Lit. ridge cutting saw; from aze 畔 meaning a ridge between rice fields. An intermediate cutting saw. The … |
Architecture, Tools | |
| azekura 校倉 | ✓ | A storage facility constructed of logs *azegi 校木, cut in appropriate lengths to… |
Architecture, Storehouses |
| azuchi-umadashi 的山馬出 | Also written 安土馬出. A type of defensive gateway barrier *umadashi 馬出,… |
Architecture, Castles | |
| Azuma kudari 東下り | ✓ | Lit. going down to the East. In the pre-Edo periods, traveling from the capital city of Kyoto toward the Eastern provinces… |
Art History, Painting |
| azuma nishiki-e 東錦絵 | Also written 吾妻錦絵, *nishiki-e 錦絵, azuma-e 東絵, *… |
Art History, Painting | |
| Azumaya 東屋 | ✓ | Lit. Eastern cottage. A pictorial subject based on "The Eastern Cottage" Azumaya, Chapter 50 of Genji… |
Art History, Painting |
| Azusayumi 梓弓 | Lit. azusa bow. The azusa 梓 tree is a kind of birch. The phrase serves as a pillow-word, makurakotoba… |
Art History, Painting | |
| daiba 台場 | ✓ | A fort located at a strategic location on a sea coast, riverbank, or island. It was furnished with large guns. Daiba were… |
Architecture, Castles |
| daiban 台盤 | A long, low, rectangular table on which food was served in the emperor's residential compound, Dairi 内裏, of the imperial… |
Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings | |
| daibandokoro 台盤所 | A room that contains a *daiban 台盤, a long, low, rectangular table on which food… |
Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings | |
| daibatsu 題跋 | 1 A general term that refers to the title or preface, dai 題 or daiji 題辞, and the… |
Art History, Painting | |
| daibusshi 大仏師 | Also daibusshi-shiki 大仏師職, zōbutsu-chōkan 造仏長官. An important Buddhist sculptor *… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| daibutsu 大仏 | ✓ | Also jōrokubutsu 丈六仏. The term used to describe a very large statue of Buddha. Originally any statue more than… |
Art History, Sculpture |
| daibutsuyō 大仏様 | Lit. Indian style. The style of architecture introduced to Japan when the priest Chōgen 重源 (1121-1206) returned from China.… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| daibutsuyō kibana 大仏様木鼻 | Also daibutsuyōkei kibana 大仏様系木鼻. Lit. nosings in the daibutsu style. Incised nosings found on bracket… |
Architecture, Decorations | |
| daibutsuyō kumimono 大仏様組物 | Also daibutsuyō tokyō 大仏様斗きょう. Lit. Great-Buddha-style bracket complex. A bracket system introduced by the priest,… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| daibutsuyō kurigata 大仏様繰形 | ✓ | Typical daibutsu style *daibutsuyō 大仏様, decorative carvings *… |
Architecture, Decorations |
| daibutsuza 大仏座 | A standard lotus pedestal *rengeza 蓮華座 used to support a *… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| daiden 大殿 | Also daiyūden 大雄殿. |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| daidokoro 台所 | 1 Believed to be an abbreviated form of *daibandokoro… |
Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings, Folk Dwellings | |
| daie 大衣 | Also sōgyari 僧伽梨 (Sk: sanghati). A robe worn by Buddhist priests. The largest of the three robes *… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| Daigensui Myōō 大元帥明王 | Also Taigensui Myōō 太元帥明王. Sometimes read Daigen Myōō. In Sanskrit, Atavaka, which means lord of the forest, and which is… |
Art History, Iconography | |
| daigiri-oga 台切大鋸 | A large crosscut saw with a blade 70 cm long and 30 cm wide that has a wooden handle at each end for two people. This saw… |
Architecture, Tools | |
| daiin-no-koguchi 大陰の虎口 | Also written 大陰虎口. A simple, early form of castle entrance *koguchi … |
Architecture, Castles | |
| Daiippōmon 第一峰門 | ✓ | A unique Chinese style four-legged gate made by Chinese carpenters in 1644 using imported, broad leaf cedar. It is located… |
Architecture, Gates |
| Daiitoku Myōō 大威徳明王 | Lit. *myōō 明王 of great awesome virtue. A god thought so powerful as to be able to… |
Art History, Iconography | |
| daijinbashira 大臣柱 | Also called wakibashira 脇柱; taishōbashira 大将柱. Initially, the square post placed at the right front corner… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| Daijizaiten 大自在天 | Translation of Sanskrit Mahesvara (also transliterated as Makeishura 摩醯首羅), one of the many names of Shiva, who, along with… |
Art History, Iconography | |
| Daijō-e byōbu 大嘗会屏風 | Also called Yukisuki-no-byōbu 悠紀主基屏風. Folding screens *byōbu 屏風 used… |
Art History, Painting | |
| Daijōkyū 大嘗宮 | Also daijōgū. A temporary palace of unstripped timber, untreated grasses and reeds, and bamboo, used for the Grand… |
Architecture, Shrines | |
| Daijōsai 大嘗祭 | Also read ōnihe matsuri, ōnie matsuri, ōname matsuri, and ōmube matsuri. The Great Food… |
Architecture, Shrines | |
| daikagura-zukuri 太神楽造 | Also called daikagurabashira 太神楽柱; *kudabashira 管柱 or… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| daikaiyūshiki teien 大回遊式庭園 | Lit. large strolling-style garden. A type of large-scale garden which is enjoyed on foot. Most large strolling gardens… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| daikōdō 大講堂 | ✓ | Lit. large lecture hall. The lecture hall at Hōryūji 法隆寺 in Nara is the most famous and oldest extant daikōdō. The… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures |
| daikoku-bashira 大黒柱 | ✓ | Also written 大極柱, shin-no-hashira 心の柱, yaku-bashira 役柱, and naka-bashira 中柱. |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings, Shrines |
| Daikoku 大黒 | 1 An abbreviation for *Daikokuten 大黒天 (Sk: Mahakala). Regarded by… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings, Sculpture, Art History | |
| Daikokuten 大黒天 | ✓ | Daikokuten is generally famous as a god of luck. He is most familiar in Japan as a fat, smiling figure with a big sack over… |
Art History, Iconography |
| daiku 大工 | Carpenter. |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| daime datami 台目畳 | Also written 代目畳, 大目畳. A straw mat about three-quarters the length of a standard size mat, about 135-137 cm long. In Kyoto… |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| daimebashira 台目柱 | Also called *nakabashira 中柱 or *… |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| daimedoko 台目床 | An alcove *tokonoma 床の間, with a wooden base, found in a small tea ceremony… |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| daimegiri 台目切 | A placement of the firebox or hearth inside the guest's mat which results in a smaller than normal size tatami mat… |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| daimochitsugi 台持継 | ✓ | A center joint. An oblique scarf joint combining a housed *daboso 太ぼそ joint and blind tenons. The mortises are… |
Architecture, General Terms |
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