Lit. "Treatise on Garden Making." The oldest and most revered Japanese text on garden design, it was probably…

Also read hasama. A loophole or porthole made in the wall of the keep, tower, or parapet to allow a castle to…

Lit. "loophole distribution." The number of loopholes per two meter (one ken 間) interval in a castle. Also refers…

Lit. "fifth month rain." A geometric pattern used for fretwork muntins. The design is inspired by early summer rain, …

Also read shamon. Lit. "sand crest." The technique of making a pattern or design in sand or gravel. The creation of…

The three types of distances desired for mountains in Chinese ink painting as defined by the famous Academy landscapist of…

The junction points on a door or window frame where the top rail *kamigamachi…

Lit. "three leaves." A decorative pattern carved into the shape of three leaves; used particularly for metal fittings found…

Sanage 猿投 kilns. A group of old kilns in an area stretching from the western area of modern Nagoya 名古屋 city to the northern…

The transverse beams placed in a row at right angle to the large header beams *kabuki…

1　A pictorial subject taken from the auspicious *kabuki 歌舞伎…

Lit. "Chatter of a Mountain Dweller." A two-volume treatise on painting theory by the late Edo artist and Confucian…

Lit. "three great Buddhas." The three largest images in the history of Buddhist statuary in Japan. Originally the …

Lit. "three-stage waterfall." One common type of garden waterfall. Through the arrangement of earth and rocks, the waterfall…

Three horizontal grooves in the neck of a Buddha *nyorai 如来 or bodhisattva *…

A simple door made of vertical planks with horizontal cross members that are about as wide as the vertical ties placed…

1　A structural element or tenon that projects out from the end of a board, post, or beam. Such projecting…

A purlin-bearing bracket arm; one that is inserted into the small bearing blocks *makito…

Also read sankarado. Paneled entrance doors introduced from China in the 13th to 14th century. They are associated…

Also called jigawara 地瓦 because it is a base tile; and kanryakugawara 簡略瓦 because it combines a broad…

Also *sanmon 三門. The most famous example is the very large 21.05 m x 9.72 m gate at Zōjōji 増上寺…

A 3 x 2 bay gate, often 8-legged style *hakkyakumon 八脚門, with entrance…

A building with 3 bays on all four sides, commonly written 3 × 3 bays. The result is usually a square building. However,…

Lit. "three countries Buddha." Buddhist statues made from the fourth to the seventh centuries in Korea. At that time, Korea…

Also called sangenyashiro or sangensha 三間社. A type of Shinto shrine. The main building *…

A Buddhist sculpture workshop *bussho 仏所 that was located in Kyoto's Sanjō 三条…

Three-storied pagodas, most of which are made of wood, but a small percentage are made of stone. See *…

A nail that is bent in three tines at a ninety degree angle. Like the twice bent nail *…

Abbreviation of Sanju hajinraku 散手破陣楽. *Bugaku 舞楽 dance and mask *…

Also read Sanjūbanjin. Various sets of thirty *kami 神 who…

Roof framework composed of struts separating three tiers of transverse beams, each proportionately shortened in length than…

1　Triple shelves. Shelves which now are rarely seen in a tea ceremony room except at Nishihonganji…

The thirty-two physical characteristics that symbolize the superhuman qualities of the Buddha. These originated in Indian…

Lit. "thirty-six immortal poets." Imaginary portraits of the 36 outstanding poets from the 7th to 10th centuries selected by…

Abbreviation of Kannon sanjūsanshin 観音三十三身. The 33 forms in which, according to the *…

Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods (Sk: Trayastrimsa deva). Also referred to as Tōriten とう利天, with tori thought to be…

A variation on the *yukimi dōrō 雪見灯籠. This type of lantern is found in the…

Large-scale hanging scroll paintings of the landscapes of shrines and temples which include images of pilgrims worshipping…

An unusual lantern style found along the pond at Katsura Rikyū 桂離宮, Kyoto. It is a small, rectangular box-shaped lantern…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a plebeian old man. Deep furrows line the…

A pestle with three prongs at each end, usually made of gilt bronze. The central grip is often encircled by demons' eyes…

Lit. "three-prong pounder motif." Also called *kongōsho 金剛杵 (vajra pounder,…

A sword, with a blade at one end and a handle topped by three prongs shaped like a *sankosho…

Ch: Sanjiao. A painting subject of the three patriarchs, Confucius (Jp: *Kōshi…

Also called sanren āchimon 三連アーチ門. A gate with three arches, made within a stone wall.

Also called nenbutsu sanmaidō 念仏三昧堂. Nenbutsu 念仏 prayers are recited, to obtain unity with *…

Also read Samaya-e. The second of the nine *mandara 曼荼羅 comprising…

Also read Samaya mandara. A form of *mandara 曼荼羅 (mandala)…

Priest and monk dormitories constructed to the north, east and west of the lecture hall *…

Also sanmen hōshoku 三面宝飾, sanmen hōkan 三面宝冠. A Buddhist crown that consisted of three upstanding ornaments…

A miniature shrine characterized by three doors, one placed at the front and one on each side of the structure. It contains…

Also written 山門; often called *sangedatsumon 三解脱門 meaning enlightenment gate. Main gate…

Also read san'e. Three different robes used by Buddhist priests. According to Indian Buddhist tradition, each monk…

Also Hie Sannō mandara 日吉山王曼荼羅. A class of Shinto devotional paintings having to do with Hie Sannōsha 日吉山王社 (…

Also called hie torii 日吉鳥居, sōgō torii 総合鳥居, hafu torii 破風鳥居 or gasshō torii 合掌鳥居.…

A type of decorative pattern used for muntins on transoms *ranma 欄間. The design…

Lit. "crossing the Sano." A historic river crossing often a subject of ancient poetry. The place recorded as Sano 狭野 in Kii…

Also read sanpei niman. A homely woman's face characterized by three flat or low parts sanpei 三平: the…

Ch: Sanping kaixiong. Lit. "Sanpei baring his chest." Also Sanpei Sekkyō 三平石鞏 (Ch: Sanping Shigong) and Sekkyō…

Ch: sanpin. Lit. "three classes." Three classes of Chinese calligraphy and painting. In ascending order, the…

Also kirō 機廊. Small, single-storied, detached buildings on temple grounds constructed on each side of a two-…

Lit. "a place to go into seclusion." A shrine or temple where priests or laymen can retire alone to pray. However, special…

Roof tiles glazed with more than two colors included various tones of brown, yellow and green which were the most commonly…

Ch: sansuantu. A painting subject of three san 三, Northern Song Chinese sages tasting wine san 酸…

Ch: sanshengtu. A type of painting of Taoist and Buddhist figures dōshaku jinbutsuga 道釈人物画, which features…

Lit. "the oracles of the three shrines." These popular hanging scrolls, sold at Ise Jingū 伊勢神宮 were the focus of devotion *…

Lit. "three, four, five." A large size right-angled carpenter's square, ōgane 大矩, with a ratio of 3:4:5 cm. The two…

Ch: shanshuihua. Lit. "mountain and water painting." Far Eastern painting of an idealized nature. Although…

1　A black lacquer crown with a row of three rounded peaks called koji 巾子. The crown was worn by…

Lit. "three thousand Buddhas." One thousand Buddhas are believed to appear in the worlds of the past, present and future…

Lit. "Buddhist triad stone arrangement." The grouping of one large stone with two smaller flanking stones that lean toward…

Also sanzonzō 三尊像, sanzon 三尊. A set of three Buddhist deities appearing together. They form a triad…

Lit. "a pole or rod." Aiso written 棹.

1　A lapped rod joint. The stacked tenon *…

A long, lapped, rod-type tenon cut in the end of a rainbow beam *kōryō 虹梁, or…

A batten used to make a board and batten ceiling *saobuchi tenjō 竿縁天井.…

Also written 棹縁天井. A board and batten ceiling. A simple ceiling made of light weight boards laid in one direction over…

Also saotsugi 竿継. Joint with long, rather slender tenons called saohozo 竿ほぞ (rod or pole tenons) and…

Lit. "plate-like bearing block." A relatively flat, wooden block set beneath the large bearing block *…

1　Monkey. The monkey is represented in kyōgen 狂言 by a masked and costumed figure. The monkey mask…

Also called sanbashigo 桟梯子. A ladder made of wood or bamboo placed in an almost vertical position to reach the…

Lit. "monkey head pent roof." A pent roof *hisashi 廂, with pentagonal members…

A ceiling characterized by battens with six sides that are not all the same size. It is similar to a *…

Lit. "monkey door." A type of bolted gate, called a wicket or a *kido 木戸, used at…

1　The pyramidal shaped top of a post on the handrail of a wooden bridge. If there is only a heavy base…

Lit. "monkey headpost." A general term for timber members of pentagonal cross-section, created by chamfering away the upper…

Lit. "monkey's ears." A pair of cleats that did not really resemble monkey's ears but rather the horns of a bull. The cleats…

Lit. "bamboo grass fence." A living fence or hedge made of low-growing, bamboo grass called kumazasa 熊笹, and…

Concave curves carved out of the upper surface of the bracket arms *hijiki…

Lit. "bamboo-grass metal fitting." A long, narrow, metal fitting *kanagu 金具,…

A string, or stringer. The boards set diagonally on each side of a staircase in order to receive the treads fumi-ita…

Also called sasarako bame 簓子羽目. A traditional type of weather board used to cover exterior walls. The overlapping…

A very small common type of memorial stupa that is made of bamboo-grass sasa 笹 and used in many parts of Japan.…

Lit. "inserted pictures." The term applies to any illustrations in books, magazines, and newspapers.

Small, oblong (6-10 cm) or rectangular stones placed in the space below the bamboo wall base kabedomari 壁留り of the…

Lit. "pointing to the alcove." Ceiling battens *saobuchi 竿縁 or thick straw…

Also called sashibari 指梁. The short visible purlins that jut beyond the barge course *…

Also written 差肘木 or 指肘木. One or more bracket arms *hijiki 肘木, inserted into the…