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…

A pictorial subject taken from Arrowhead, the play from the *kabuki…

A pictorial subject taken from "Yadorigi" ("The Ivy"), Chapter 49 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji…

Lit. "eightfold fence." A type of double-screen sleeve fence *sodegaki 袖垣 in…

A widely used moat with sides that slope like an earthen embankment. The name is derived from the moat having a bottom with…

Also written 櫓烟出. Also read yagura kemuridashi. An opening constructed in a thatched roof to allow the escape of…

A guard tower set atop the corners of a castle's stone wall and other strategic positions overlooking the surrounding area.…

Also called a watari yaguramon 渡櫓門 or just *watari yagura 渡櫓. A…

The largest sized roof tile used to connect the turret corridors *watari yagura…

Commonly double-penetrating, diagonally placed beams that connect the main post *…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a small Chinese fox. Its thin-lipped, slightly…

1　A ceiling with the same pitch as the roof. Really, an exposed ceiling *…

Also written 屋形城.

1　A structure that combines the daily living quarters of a mansion with the…

Lit. "burned brush." A wooden stick with a burned tip. Like charcoal used in western style painting, yakifude is…

A bisque ware or unglazed pagoda. Plain, unglazed small pagodas are called deitō 泥塔, meaning mud pagodas.…

Also kaname-ishi 要石. Rocks and stones which in a tea garden *roji 露地…

1　The parts of a stone wall such as exterior corners, top surfaces, or openings for drainage where…

Also read yakugi. The allocation of shrubbery in a garden, particularly applied to trees which set the mood of a…

Lit. "roles of branches." The branches of a flower or tree that are given a name based on their "role" in the structure of…

A generic term for all types of roof tiles which serve a special purpose. These tiles include: sleeve tiles *…

A gate with a gable roof constructed with two square or rectangular main posts and two square or circular secondary posts *…

A medicine jar, found on the palm of the left hand in figures of *Yakushi 薬師, the…

A type of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print which shows one or several actors in a stage pose or…

Lit. "picture books illustrating actors." Books that bound together actor prints, but also included theater and stage scenes…

Printed books criticizing actors' skills. Theater reviews were not published in booklet form until 1656 with Yakusha-no-…

Keka 悔過 is a term used in Buddhism meaning repentance of one's sins, and refers to the chanting of prayers to…

The name of the Buddha associated with healing. Sino-Japanese rendering of Sanskrit Bhaisajyaguru, meaning "Medicine Master…

A Buddhist temple hall housing a statue of *Yakushi 薬師 (Sk: Bhaisajyaguru), the Buddha…

Ch: Yaoshan Li'ao. A Zen 禅 painting subject depicting the philosophical debate between the Tang dynasty hermit-priest…

Ch: Yaoshan she chenzhongchen; lit. "Yakusan's Shooting of the Great King of the Big Deers." A Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan)…

Lit. "mountain indigo." Perennial plant 30-40 cm high, Mercurialis leiocarpa Sieb. et zuc., used to make a blue dye…

Lit. "mountain stone." A generic name for stones found or quarried in the mountains. Unlike sea stones *…

Also read Yamagoshi no Amida; Amida yamagoe (yamagoshi) raigō 阿弥陀山越来迎. Lit. "Amida…

A mountain castle entrance. The entrance *koguchi 虎口 of a mountain…

Lit. "mountain castle." A castle built on a mountain to take advantage of the mountain's topography. One of the three main…

Lit. "mountain eye pounding and inserting piling." A dry construction method used to pile stones for a stone wall *…

A window used especially in the Zen style *zenshūyō 禅宗様; a type of ogival…