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  • (-) General Terms (55)
  • Architecture (50)
  • Art History (6)
  • Decorations (1)
  • Sculpture (1)

Displaying 1 - 55 of 55
Title Contains Image(s) Description Keywords
agesage shōji 上下障子 ✓

Also called *suriage shōji 摺上障子. A sliding door frame covered with…

Architecture, General Terms
aikugi 合釘 ✓

Also kurekugi 呉釘, kirikugi 切釘. A straight nail with both ends pointed. It is made of wood, bamboo, iron,…

Architecture, General Terms
aiorekugi 合折釘 ✓

Also called oreaikugi 折合釘 or mageorekugi 曲折釘. A type of double-pointed iron nail, square in section, and…

Architecture, General Terms
akari shōji 明障子 ✓

One type of *shōji 障子. A translucent screen or sliding door made by pasting…

Architecture, General Terms
aki 明

Also written 空; kūgeki 空隙, ma 間. Lit. empty, gap, space. The space between two structural parts. For…

Architecture, General Terms
akkon 圧痕

Evidence left on load bearing members by beams *hari 梁, *…

Architecture, General Terms
amado 雨戸

1 Wooden shutters constructed at the various openings of a building. They slide out from a special storage…

Architecture, General Terms
amadoi 雨樋

A gutter used to carry rainwater from the eave-ends to a downspout or hanging chain and thence to the ground. This method…

Architecture, General Terms
amagumi 疎組 ✓

Also read mabaragumi; also written 阿麻組 amagumi. A bracket complex *…

Architecture, General Terms
amajimai 雨仕舞

Weather stripping, flashing, a rain guard, or any device used to prevent leaks or deflect rainwater. A hōju roban…

Architecture, General Terms
amakatsura-ishi 雨葛石

A curbstone that runs horizontally along the top edge of a podium *danjōzumi…

Architecture, General Terms
amaochi 雨落 ✓

Also called amadari 雨垂り and amadareochi 雨垂れ落ち. The place on the ground, directly below the eaves,…

Architecture, General Terms
amashōji 雨障子

Also called aburashōji 油障子. A type of translucent paper-covered window found most often in tea ceremony houses *…

Architecture, General Terms
ananai 麻生

An ancient word for *ashiba 足場 or ashishiro 足代, scaffolding made of…

Architecture, General Terms
aori hafu 障泥破風

Lit. curved bargeboard. An archaic term for *chidori haru 千鳥破風, a…

Architecture, General Terms
aori-ita 障泥板 ✓

Also read afuri-ita; irakaōi 甍覆.

1 A thick board attached to the edge of a veranda…

Architecture, General Terms
ara-ishi 荒石

Lit. rough stone. A generic term for rough, unprocessed rock in the form in which it is found or quarried. Also read *…

Architecture, General Terms
aragaki 荒垣 ✓

Lit. rough fence. A general term to designate any kind of crude fence with widely spaced posts and crossbars. It is also…

Architecture, General Terms
arakabe 荒壁

The first layer of mud plaster applied to the lath *komai 小舞, that…

Architecture, General Terms
arikabe 蟻壁

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

Architecture, General Terms
ashi 足

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

1 The parts that support the main…

Architecture, General Terms
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
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
ashimoto 足元

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

Architecture, General Terms
ashiwake 葦分け

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

Architecture, General Terms
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
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
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
azegi 校木 ✓

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

Architecture, General Terms
gagyō 丸桁 ✓

Also read gangyō, gayō, nokigeta 軒桁, or *dashigeta…

Architecture, General Terms
gagyōbane 丸桁桔

Also read gangyōbane. A single heavy beam attached at right angles to the eave purlins *…

Architecture, General Terms
gaien 外苑

Lit. outer garden. The area outside the sacred enclosure of a shrine, mausoleum, or temple. Typically, the approach to the…

Architecture, General Terms
gakubuchi 額縁

1 The wooden rails and stiles around doors or windows. 
2 Casing, trim, or…

Architecture, General Terms
gangi hashigo 雁木梯子 ✓

Lit. zig-zag ladder. A kind of ladder, hashigo 梯子(see *kaidan 階段),…

Architecture, General Terms
garan haichi 伽藍配置 ✓

The arrangement of buildings within the precinct of a Buddhist temple constructed between the late 7th century to 12th…

Architecture, General Terms
garan 伽藍

An abbreviated form of sōgya ranma 僧伽欄摩 (Sk: samgha arama). Lit. A garden for monks. Also rendered as sōen…

Architecture, General Terms
gasshō 合掌

1 The triangular frame created by joining a pair of cruck-like members *…

Architecture, General Terms, Art History, Sculpture
gawageta 側桁

Also pronounced kawageta. 
1 Exterior wall purlins. Long horizontal beams *…

Architecture, General Terms
gawakabe 側壁

Also read sokuheki or kawakabe. The exterior wall of a building. An outside wall or end wall.

Architecture, General Terms
gejin 外陣

1 In shrine architecture, the main hall *honden 本殿 is divided…

Architecture, General Terms
gekan 下間

Lit. lower space. It is a room adjoining the main rooms of the priests' quarters in a Zen temple. It is located near the…

Architecture, General Terms
genkan 玄関

1 The entrance gallery or porch used in the guest hall *kyakuden…

Architecture, General Terms
Genroku bunka 元禄文化

Lit. Genroku culture. The middle Edo period *Edo jidai 江戸時代 chūki 中期…

Art History, General Terms
giboshi 擬宝珠 ✓

Also pronounced gibōshi, giboju, gibōshu, goboshu. A decoration in the shape of the…

Architecture, General Terms, Decorations
gigaku 伎楽

Also kuregaku 呉楽. Now-lost ancient masked theatrical performances given at temples from the 7th to 9th century.…

Art History, General Terms
gō-ita 格板

Also called *ura-ita 裏板. The panel used to fill the space made by the…

Architecture, General Terms
gōbuchi 格縁

The wooden ribs or coffers laid in a criss-cross pattern to form a coffered ceiling *gō…

Architecture, General Terms
gokakumasu 五角桝 ✓

Lit. a five cornered measuring box. A method used to determine the proportions of a bracket arm *…

Architecture, General Terms
gōma 格間

The space created by the coffers or ribs *gōbuchi 格縁 of a coffered or latticed…

Architecture, General Terms
gorinmen 五厘面

Type of a chamfers cut on a square timber or square post with a ratio of 1/20 is called gorinmen along each corner…

Architecture, General Terms
goshomune 御所棟

Also called gosho oni-ita 御所鬼板 or goshomune oni-ita 御所棟鬼板. Lit. the ridge of an imperial palace. The main…

Architecture, General Terms
gōtenjō 格天井

A coffered ceiling. A ceiling with ribs framing recessed panels.

1 The simplest type of coffered…

Architecture, General Terms
gyobutsu 御物

Also read gomotsu. The emperor's property. The Imperial Collection of art objects, books, etc., which are either of…

Art History, General Terms
gyōkaigan 凝灰岩

Tuff or tufa. Popularly called shōkōseki 松香石. A porous stone composed of volcanic ash or from the material loosened…

Architecture, General Terms

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JAANUS is the on-line Dictionary of Japanese Architectural and Art Historical Terminology compiled by Dr. Mary Neighbour Parent.

Originally built by the Atsumi International Scholarship Foundation, it is now hosted and maintained by the Media Center for Art History at Columbia University