A room in traditional vernacular houses *minka 民家, in parts of Hyōgo Prefecture…

Also *daiyū hōden 大雄宝殿. The main hall of a Zen temple. Butsuden…

Lit. illustrated biographies of the Buddha. Artistic representations, usually painted or in low-relief sculpture, of the…

Also called *butsuden 仏殿; bukkaku 仏閣, *…

Also gan 龕. A niche carved out of a wall for the purpose of installing a Buddhist image, or a miniature Buddhist…

Also Butsugenson 仏眼尊 (Venerable Buddha-Eye). Lit. Buddha-Eye, or Mother of the Buddha. Sk: Buddhalocanal Locana. An Esoteric…

A variety of *besson mandara 別尊曼荼羅 (a mandala concerning a single deity…

A room for Buddhist images (either two- or three-dimensional images) or, especially in a residence, an altar or tabernacle…

Lit. Buddha's gate. Also *nandaimon 南大門; *…

Catalog of objects in Butsunichian, the 14th-century inventory of artistic and other properties of Butsunichian 仏日庵…

A general term that refers to all images of the Buddha used as objects of worship, although most commonly used to refer to…

A generic term for the structural members which form the framework *honegumi…

Sandalwood; santalum album. A tree with fine-grained hardwood, native to India and Southeast Asia. The wood is pale-yellow…

Also Byakushozon 白処尊 and Byakue Kanjizaimo 白衣観自在母. (Sk: Panduravasini); White-robed *…

Also *mikenkō 眉間光, miken byakugō 眉間白毫, miken byakugōsō 眉間白毫相…

A pale blue pigment *ganryō 顔料, used in Japanese painting *…

A pale green pigment *ganryō 顔料, used in Japanese painting *…

Paintings on folding screens *byōbu 屏風. 

The earliest record of…

A folding screen consisting of multiple, joined panels. Folding screens vary in size; the standard size consists of six…

A type of decorative double hanging shelf *tsuridana 釣棚, placed in an alcove…

Also termed *orihei 折塀 (folding wall). A castle wall that zig-zags…

Also called reibyōmon 霊廟門. An entrance gate to a mausoleum. It can be an elaborate gate in two-storied or simulated…

Lit. mausoleum pagoda.
1　A pagoda constructed to enshrine a Buddhist image.
2　A five…

1　Painting contest; a contest involving two teams, popular among Heian aristocrats from the 11th century.…

An *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print commonly used as writing paper. A sheet of *…

Lit. Illustrated Scripture of Cause and Effect. Also known as Kako genzai ingakyō emaki 過去現在因果経絵巻. 

The pictures on signs or billboards displayed in front of *kabuki 歌舞伎 puppet…

Also written 蝦の腰 or 蝦腰. A type of decorative molding *kurigata 繰形, used on…

1　Also ebi-iro 蒲萄色 or 葡萄色. A reddish -purple dye use in the Asuka and Nara periods, and the name…

Also ebigatakote 海老形篭手. A shrimp-shaped gauntlet *kote 篭手. Armor worn to…

Also written 蝦虹梁.

An usually-shaped rainbow tie beam thought to resemble the back of a lobster or shrimp or an s-shape…

Lit. the Plum Quiver. A pictorial subject taken from an incident during the Genpei 源平 war. Before going to battle the…

Also written 夷, 戎, or 蛭子.

1　One of the seven gods of good fortune *…

1　A structural post considered sacred in an Edo period vernacular house *…

A simple structure that was usually erected in the center of a market place to house the deity *…

Also written 蝦束; also hinazuka 雛束. 

A small strut with chamfered corners used between two staggered…

Woodblock engravers who specialized in carving blocks for *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 or other…

Also written 絵振板 or 恵振板.

A board cut in a decorative shape and attached at a right angle to the projecting end of a…

Also written 絵振台. Also called onigawaradai 鬼瓦台, *onidai 鬼台. 

Painters who specialized in Buddhist religious painting. The term was widely used from the late Heian period when the demand…

Handmade paper *washi 和紙 produced in Echizen 越前 (now Fukui Prefecture), probably…

Lit. branch strut. Also called hōzue 方杖; hasuzuka 斜束 or nanamezuka 斜め束. Diagonal braces used in…

Lit. branch charcoal. A type of charcoal which is both ornamental and easy to ignite, used in either a sunken hearth *…

Lit. painting model. A prototype, or more commonly, a modelbook produced by a master painter for his students or for people…

Pictorial 'e 絵', biographies 'den 伝' of important persons, most frequently Buddhist patriarchs and holy…

Also *azuma nishiki-e 東錦絵.
A general term applied to all…

Less commonly, *Tokugawa jidai 徳川時代. The Edo period, the time in which…

The Edo period Edo branch of the Kano school of painting *Kano-ha 狩野派. The…

An archaic term for tiles of low quality used in Edo (now Tokyo) during the Edo period to roof tenement houses *…

Lit. Edo black. A black plaster finish applied to the walls of fireproof mud-plastered storehouses *…

Also written 画所. An atelier producing paintings and painted decoration for the court and nobility, located at the palace…

A standard unit of measurement used in Edo and various towns in the Kantō 関東 region. In constructing an ordinary…

Lit. painting brush. Any of numerous categories of paint brushes made in Japan of various natural materials and used to…

1　A generic term for paper used for painting. In general, strong paper with a minimal tendency to blur,…

Silk used for painting. Plain, non-glossy raw silk was favored. Called huajuan (Jp; *…

The name of a courtesan from the Eguchi 江口 area of northern Settsu 摂津 (now Osaka) immortalized in the biography of…

Also called shibai ezōshi 芝居絵双紙 or shibai ehon 芝居絵本. Illustrated woodblock printed programs for *…

Lit. picture book.

1　In the broad sense of the term, the Edo period ehon referred to any…

Books of poetry, haikai 俳諧, with pictures, published during the Edo period. 

One of the oldest examples…

Woodblock printed books published during the Edo period, from the Kan'ei 寛永 to the Kyōhō 享保 eras (1624-1736).

…

Also known as *kyōgenbon 狂言本. Woodblock printed illustrated booklets,…

Illustrated Edo period woodblock printed books containing humorous poems known as kyōka 狂歌. 

Early…

Also jōyatō 常夜灯. 

A device to prevent the votive light in a lantern from going out.

Also ei 影, *shin-ei 真影, *miei…

Ch: Huike duanbi. Lit. Eka cutting (his) elbow. 

A painting subject based on the legend of Eka…

Also written 腋門, or read *wakimon 脇門. 

A small gate…

1　The textual part of an illustrated handscroll *emaki 絵巻. The…

Lit. horse painting. Illustrated wooden plaques given as votive offerings to shrines and temples. 

It is believed…

Lit. picture horse hall. Also called emaden 絵馬殿; emadokoro 絵馬所 or gakuden 額殿 (frame hall),…

Also called emakimono 絵巻物, or less commonly *ekotoba 絵詞. 

…

Folds in a garment, or the pattern made by these folds. 

In Buddhist statues, the style of drapery folds changed…

The domed lid of a tea ceremony kettle with an indentation or depressed area around the knob. Sometimes called a fuji…

The boards used to make the floor over a veranda framework. There are two common methods: kirime-en 切目縁 and …

Also written 椽長押; sometimes called *kirime nageshi 切目長押. A non-…

Also known as En no Ozunu 役小角 (also read En no Shōkaku) and En no Ubasoku 役優婆塞.

A semi-…

A Buddhist sculpture school *bussho 仏所, active in Kyoto from the 11th century…

Ch: Yuanye. Lit. garden building. The only extant treatise on classical Chinese garden construction. Written by the…

1　Also *engawa 縁側. A veranda. Formerly, en and …

Also engawabashira 縁側柱. 

Posts or pillars usually set on the floor boards *…

An imaginary type of gold which, according to Buddhist scriptures, was the most precious of metals. It was said to be found…

Also written 苑池. Lit. garden pond. The large ponds in gardens of the Nara, Heian, and Kamakura periods. Specifically, the…

Lit. circular pillar seat. A rounded molding carved into the top of a base stone *soseki…

Lit. circular hall. Although the literal meaning of endō is round structure (see *…

A heavy horizontal member attached to the outside of the veranda framework over the veranda struts *…

Also called *gatō 瓦当. The circular pendant tiles attached to semi-circular…

Also wirtten 掾側. The area beside or surrounding the straw matted *tatami 畳…

Lit. full moon bridge. A semi-circular garden bridge that, when reflected in the water below, presents the circular…

A deep red color, sometimes with a hint of purple. Dyes senryō 染料 and paints *…

The horizontal boards positioned across the front of a veranda on top of the struts *…

Ch: Yanxi fangdai. Also known as Ō Shiyū hōtai 王子猷訪戴 and Setsuya hōtai 雪夜訪戴. Lit. A…

A round nimbus. A round halo on a Buddhist statue, attached to the back of the head. Enkei kōhai are further…

Perspective. In Western art perspective derived from 15th-century developments in science, and the problem of representing 3…

Ch: Yuanhou zhuoyue. A painting subject of the Buddhist parable that features a monkey (Jp: enkō 猿猴)…

A type of round nimbus *kōhai 光背 or halo, found on a Buddhist image. The…

Also Enraō 閻羅王; Sk: Yamaraja. The name whereby *Enmaten 焔魔天 is more commonly known…

A variety of mandala *mandara 曼荼羅, centered on *…

Also written 閻摩天, 焔摩天, 炎摩天. Enma is a transliteration of Sk: Yama, which in Indian mythology is the name of the…

Lit. Lengthened life Kaja. A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a cheerful young…

Lit. veranda ear board. The outermost board on the kure-en 榑縁 type of veranda which has long floor boards running…

A penetrating tie-beam that connects and strengthens the veranda struts *enzuka…