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…