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　A shell, especially mother-of-pearl, inlay technique commonly used for lacquer ware *…

Ch: Luofuxian. The story and pictorial theme of an immortal on Mt. Luofu 羅浮山 (Jp: Rafusen) and the spirit…

Spiral shaped curls of hair, like snail-shells, on the head of a *nyorai…

Also *haiden 拝殿. A worship hall for Shinto shrine visitors. The plan…

Also called raihaidō 礼拝堂. A worship hall. When Buddhist temples were constructed during the 7th-8th century,…

Two or four-circular pillars right and left at each corner of the Buddhist altar to define the most sacred place in a temple…

Lit. "Amida with welcoming descent mudras." A figure of *Amida 阿弥陀 with hand…

Lit. "welcoming mudra." A mudra or hand gesture *in 印 in which the forefinger,…

Also called raigō-heki. A clay or wooden wall erected behind a Buddhist altar *…

Painted images of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, such as *Shaka 釈迦, *…

Lattice arranged in a fret pattern, used especially on railings of balconies.

Lit. "lightning pattern." Also read ikazuchimon いかずち文. A pattern of thick and thin zig-zag lines. A variation of *…

Ch: Lanzan weiyu 懶瓚煨芋. A Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) painting subject depicting the late 8th century Chinese Zen priest Lanzan…

Arhat. Ch: luohan, Sk: arhan. Abbreviation of arakan 阿羅漢, a translation of the Sk. term arhan…

An abbreviation of the term rakusei kanshiki 落成款識. Lit. "inscription cast into ancient bronze vessels at…

Paintings of scenes in and around Kyoto. Famous sites, festivals and activities within the capital rakuchū 洛中…

Also written 楽書. Graffiti or scribblings. The earliest examples in Japan are the scribblings in the margins or on the backs…

Raku 楽 ware. A light weight ceramic ware developed in Kyoto in the Momoyama period and particularly prized in the…

A net-like ornament strung with jewels or precious metals and hung from the canopy *…

Ch: lanyemiao. Lit. "orchid-leaf drawing." A style of ink-painting using fluid, modulated lines that resemble the…

A transom. A rectangular opening, longer in the horizontal direction, constructed between the lintels *…

Also called no-ishizumi 野石積. Stones with an irregular shape. Those that are somewhat square are called nozura-…

Also referred to as ranzumi kidan 乱積基壇, ranzō ransekizumi 乱層乱石積, kuzure ishizumi くずれ石積 or simply…

Also *ranzumi 乱積. Piling up unhewn rocks or random masonry. The earliest and…

The technique whereby bamboo strips are woven into shapes and coated with lacquer. Also called kagoji 籠地 (basket…

Ch: Lanting qushui. Lit. "meandering stream and orchid pavilion." A painting theme which refers to a gathering held…

A stone pagoda with an egg-shaped main body placed directly on a base. It differs from the *…

Lit. "random joints." Various types of architectural joints that can be either dovetail *…

Also called *ransekizumi 乱石積, waraizumi 笑い積. Randomly piled natural stones *…

Transliteration of Sanskrit raksasa, a term for demons in general, but which may also be divided into three classes…

Ch: Ling Zhaonu. Raised by her aged parents as a devout Buddhist, this semi-legendary daughter of Tang dynasty lay Buddhist…

Also byōsho 廟所 or mitamaya 霊屋.
A mausoleum in which the spirit of the dead is enshrined. It may be…

A set of books from which the larger portion is missing; the odd volume or smaller portion (i.e., several pages) of a larger…

Ch: Lingyun Guanhua. The Tang dynasty Zen 禅 priest Lingyun Zhiqin (Jp: Reiun Shikin 霊雲志勤), a disciple of Weishan Lingyu (Jp…

A long piece of paper or board the same length as *zenshi 全紙 (approximately 135…

A piece of paper, three-quarters the size of *zenshi 全紙. When a…