A type of smoothing plane. The arashikō ganna is the first smoothing plane used on a piece of timber, planking…

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

Lit. rough clay. Clay mixed with other materials (known as *susa すさ),…

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

Lit. dovetail shape. Also arigata 蟻形. The generic term for any part of a joint in a dovetail shape. The earliest…

A type of right angle, mitered, housed, and dovetail joint used mainly on flat timber as, for example, in the upper…

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…

Also arigata aihozo 蟻形相ほぞ. Dovetail halving. A type of half-lap dovetail joint *…

The name of one section of a tea scoop. It is the deep indentation at the back part of a bamboo tea scoop *…

Lit. dovetail tenon. Also *arikake 蟻掛. A tenon shaped like a dove's tail with…

1　A narrow horizontal strip of wall between a long, light, binding beam *…

1　A dovetail joint with the dovetail tenon cut at the butt end about half the depth of one beam. It then is…

Lit. dovetail neck. 

1　The rear part of a dovetail joint which is in line with the surface…

Also called *arikake 蟻掛. 

1　A simple angle joint…

A dovetail joint used to attach the ends of two boards. The tenon *hozo ほぞ or…

Also written 蟻釣. A type of angled wood joint. A dovetail tenon *arihozo…

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…

Lit. morning glory nail. A two-pronged nail bent into a right angle for the purpose of hanging a flower vase. The nail…

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

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing an old man. The broad bone structure, direct…

Also written 麻緒, 麻苧, asahimo 麻紐, asa-ito 麻糸. Cord or thread made from hemp, asa 麻, and Chinese…

Lit. leg or foot. Also 脚, read ashi or kyaku.

1　The parts that support the main…

1　A structure erected in the central open space, miyaa みやあ, of a settlement in Okinawa Prefecture…

Also simply called *ashiage 足揚. A type of thatched storehouse set upon a…

Scaffold or scaffolding. A temporary, elevated structure used to support workmen, tools, etc. when erecting a building.…

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 *…

Also written 脚固, 足堅. Strong, horizontal ties which strengthen the posts beneath the floor of a timber building by…

Lit. foot-tenon. A rectangular piece of wood that projects from the sole of a standing wooden statue and fits into a…

1　A general term for all structural members from the foundation *dodai…

Also called *hire 鰭 or *hiregawara…

Lit. split reed. A style of round-stone paving *tama-ishijiki 玉石敷 of the…

Ashuku, also Ashiku. Immovable One (Sk: Aksobhya). The name of a Buddha today generally associated with Esoteric Buddhism…

Sk: Asura. Also abbreviated to shura 修羅. Among the Indo-Iranians, the term Asura Ashura in Avestan,…

The Asuka period (538/552-645). So called because the capital of the new Yamato 大和 region was located in the Asuka district…

1　The part of an architectural element in which one member meets another. Different from a joint in that it…

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…

A type of rectangular pillar employed in the construction of a gate at a castle or dwelling. This pillar, front to back, is…

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

Also read aisaka. A type of warrior run *mushabashiri 武者走, where…

Lit. sea-foam stone. A type of blue stone *ao-ishi 青石, produced in modern…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 of the basic emaciated *…

The capacity to be moved deeply, an aesthetic ideal associated with Heian period literature and aristocratic values. An…

A wooden measuring gauge *jōgi 定規, generally, 6-7 cm wide, 35-45 cm long, and 0.9…

Awataguchi 粟田口 kiln. Also called awatayaki 粟田焼. A ceramic ware that was made in Awataguchi, at the foot of…

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

A figured or diagonally-woven twill fabric.

1　The twill form, ayasoshiki 綾組織 or pattern of…

Also written 霊神, 網像, 危. Noh masks *nōmen 能面, representing a wraith or a…

Also written 阿夜岐理 and called Aikirijo 愛嗜女. A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 and a…

Also pronounced shimesuji 〆筋. The parallel chevron lines on the front or sides of a lion-mouth roof tile *…

Also pronounced azeki. Chamfered logs used to build walls for storehouses *…

Lit. ridge cutting saw; from aze 畔 meaning a ridge between rice fields. An intermediate cutting saw. The …

A storage facility constructed of logs *azegi 校木, cut in appropriate lengths to…

Also written 安土馬出. A type of defensive gateway barrier *umadashi 馬出,…

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　Painting contest; a contest involving two teams, popular among Heian aristocrats from the 11th century.…

An *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print commonly used as writing paper. A sheet of *…

Lit. Illustrated Scripture of Cause and Effect. Also known as Kako genzai ingakyō emaki 過去現在因果経絵巻. 

The pictures on signs or billboards displayed in front of *kabuki 歌舞伎 puppet…

Also written 蝦の腰 or 蝦腰. A type of decorative molding *kurigata 繰形, used on…

1　Also ebi-iro 蒲萄色 or 葡萄色. A reddish -purple dye use in the Asuka and Nara periods, and the name…

Also ebigatakote 海老形篭手. A shrimp-shaped gauntlet *kote 篭手. Armor worn to…

Also written 蝦虹梁.

An usually-shaped rainbow tie beam thought to resemble the back of a lobster or shrimp or an s-shape…

Lit. the Plum Quiver. A pictorial subject taken from an incident during the Genpei 源平 war. Before going to battle the…

Also written 夷, 戎, or 蛭子.

1　One of the seven gods of good fortune *…

1　A structural post considered sacred in an Edo period vernacular house *…

A simple structure that was usually erected in the center of a market place to house the deity *…

Also written 蝦束; also hinazuka 雛束. 

A small strut with chamfered corners used between two staggered…

Woodblock engravers who specialized in carving blocks for *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 or other…

Also written 絵振板 or 恵振板.

A board cut in a decorative shape and attached at a right angle to the projecting end of a…

Also written 絵振台. Also called onigawaradai 鬼瓦台, *onidai 鬼台. 

Painters who specialized in Buddhist religious painting. The term was widely used from the late Heian period when the demand…

Handmade paper *washi 和紙 produced in Echizen 越前 (now Fukui Prefecture), probably…

Lit. branch strut. Also called hōzue 方杖; hasuzuka 斜束 or nanamezuka 斜め束. Diagonal braces used in…

Lit. branch charcoal. A type of charcoal which is both ornamental and easy to ignite, used in either a sunken hearth *…

Lit. painting model. A prototype, or more commonly, a modelbook produced by a master painter for his students or for people…

Pictorial 'e 絵', biographies 'den 伝' of important persons, most frequently Buddhist patriarchs and holy…

Also *azuma nishiki-e 東錦絵.
A general term applied to all…

Less commonly, *Tokugawa jidai 徳川時代. The Edo period, the time in which…

The Edo period Edo branch of the Kano school of painting *Kano-ha 狩野派. The…

An archaic term for tiles of low quality used in Edo (now Tokyo) during the Edo period to roof tenement houses *…

Lit. Edo black. A black plaster finish applied to the walls of fireproof mud-plastered storehouses *…

Also written 画所. An atelier producing paintings and painted decoration for the court and nobility, located at the palace…

A standard unit of measurement used in Edo and various towns in the Kantō 関東 region. In constructing an ordinary…

Lit. painting brush. Any of numerous categories of paint brushes made in Japan of various natural materials and used to…

1　A generic term for paper used for painting. In general, strong paper with a minimal tendency to blur,…

Silk used for painting. Plain, non-glossy raw silk was favored. Called huajuan (Jp; *…

The name of a courtesan from the Eguchi 江口 area of northern Settsu 摂津 (now Osaka) immortalized in the biography of…

Also called shibai ezōshi 芝居絵双紙 or shibai ehon 芝居絵本. Illustrated woodblock printed programs for *…

Lit. picture book.

1　In the broad sense of the term, the Edo period ehon referred to any…

Books of poetry, haikai 俳諧, with pictures, published during the Edo period. 

One of the oldest examples…