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…

Ch: Fu Daishi. Buddhist Master Fu or Great Teacher Fu. The Chinese Buddhist layman Fu Xi (Jp: Fu Kyū 傅翕, 497-569)…

Sanskrit: Potalaka. Sometimes written 普陀楽山, 布落迦山; also called Fudaraku 補陀落. Octagonal island-mountain paradise…

A curved wooden border attached to the end of a desk or shelf to prevent brushes and scrolls from rolling off. It is also…

Noh mask *nōmen 能面, representing *Fudō …

The chief of the Five Great Myōō, *Godai Myōō 五大明王, Fudō has been, and…

A hall in a Buddhist temple dedicated to the deity *Fudō Myōō 不動明王 (Sk:…

Lit. flute post. The thick post at the right rear corner of a noh stage, *…

Depictions of Mt. Fuji 富士 painted from the Heian period to modern times in a variety of contexts. A usually quiet (but still…

Lit. universally good (Sk: Samantabhadra); also Henkitsu 遍吉. A bodhisattva, *bosatsu…

Also called Shigatsudō 四月堂; *Sanmaidō 三昧堂. A Buddhist temple in which the main deity…

Lit. axe-cut stroke. A painting texture stroke, *shunpō 皴法, said to have been…

Devotional paintings of Mt. Fuji 富士 in a large hanging scroll format. Usually they are in the form of sankei mandara…

A pictorial subject taken from the "Wisteria Leaves" (Fuji no uraba, underleaves of wisteria), Chapter 33 of …

A pictorial subject taken from the "Purple Trousers" (Fujibakama, also translated as Mistflowers), Chapter 30 of…

Lit. Fuji shape. A common type of *shizenseki chōzubachi 自然石手水鉢,…

Lit. Wind God and Thunder God. Based on popular Indian deities (Sk: Vayu and Varun) and Chinese deities (Ch: Fengshen 風神 and…

Fujiwara period. A period of approximately two hundred years corresponding to the Middle Heian period (Heian chūki…

Deep. A noh mask, *nōmen 能面, representing a middle-aged woman torn by…

Also fukasanjō-no-seki 深三畳席. A tea ceremony room of three mats. One of the mats is about one quarter normal size,…

Ch: Puhua. An itinerant priest of the Tang Dynasty depicted in paintings as wandering the streets of Zhenzhou 鎮州 in a state…

Lit. Landscape painting, a general term, usually applied only to works in the long western tradition of landscape by…

Also zōkin bokashi 雑巾ぼかし, rag shading. Any wiping technique used to produce gradated tones (shading) on a woodblock…

A technique to create tints by placing a cut-out pattern on paper and scraping paint through a wire mesh with a brush,…

The length of the visible surface of an ordinary broad, concave roofing tile, *…

The part of a lotus-petal base, *rengeza 蓮華座, for a Buddhist image…

1　Also written 葺返. A board which projects diagonally out from the top of a statue canopy, *…

A compositional technique used to depict a residential interior. The technique involves rendering a building without a roof…

A gate without doors. It may be a roofed opening in a fence or wall, but no gate leaves are hung on the structure.

Also written 葺卸. The extension of a roof or the elongation of eaves on the main part of a building in order to cover an…

The layer of clay spread on sheathing, *shitaji 下地, sometimes called …

1　The arrangement of muntins, lattice (*fukiyose gōshi…

The grouping of two or three parallel rafters placed closely together with a wide space between each group. The spaces…

Lit. grouped or varying numbered lattice. Lattice or small beams arranged to form patterns in transoms, *…

Also fukiyosebuki 吹寄葺, fukiyose renben 吹寄蓮弁, or *fukiyose…

A later-era appellation given to a group of artists from the late Edo period who consciously attempted revive the past *…

The god of happiness, represented in kyōgen 狂言 plays by a masked figure, *…

Also written 覆鉢; also called fukuhatsu ふくはつ. The small inverted bowl-like fixture placed on the box-like cover, *…

A motif which consists of a double-stylized lotus petal with a leaf seedling in each petal. Found on the pendant, *…

Also written 複弁蓮花文. A double-lotus-petal motif applied to the pendant tiles, *gatō…

A restoration copy. A painting that is copied with the intent of restoring it to near its original state. This means…

Ch: Fuxi. A legendary Chinese sage and ruler who was the founder of Chinese civilization and first sovereign of the Five…

Also fukugōshiki tenshu 複合式天守. A large tower, *daitenshu 大天守, with…

Also known as Fukūkensaku Kannon. His name, "non-empty noose," is pronounced differently in Shingon 真言 (Fukaukenjaku) and…

A channel. The part of a bearing block, *masu 斗, that is cut out either as a one-…

1　Parallel lines used to mark outlines in a painting or sculpture.

2　A narrow band…

The woodblock-printed paper that formed the outer covers for prints and woodblock books. In the 1770s-80s it became popular…

A double corridor that was two bays, *ken 間, wide. Window frames with vertical…

A type of mounting for hanging scrolls, *kakemono 掛物. The *…

Also fukurotodana 袋戸棚 or tenbukuro 天袋. Lit. enclosed shelf.

1　A small cupboard…

Lit. pouch or pocket alcove. An alcove, *tokonoma 床の間, characterized by a…

Lit. bag-hanging nail. A bamboo or iron nail inserted into the middle post, *…

Ch: Fu Lu Shou. A popular deity of wealth (fuku 福), happiness (roku 禄), and longevity( ju 寿),…

Also read fukurotsuzuri. Also called karatoji 唐綴 and fukurozōshi 袋草子. Lit. pouch-binding. The…

Also chabukusa 茶袱紗. A thick silk cloth used by the host at a tea ceremony to wipe tea bowls, *…

Also fuchoku 布置. Composition in Chinese painting. Included in the fifth canon, "Plan and Design, Place and Position…

Lit. stepping stone. The stone placed directly under the crawl door entrance, *…

A very simple type of shelving with sliding doors at floor level. Typically, the shelving is part of the many different…

Replica casting. A technique used in metal casting, where a simple, flat metal object was covered with clay to make a mold.…

A straw mat, *tatami 畳, which is placed adjacent to the door from which the…

Also fungomidoko ふんごみ床. An alcove, *tokonoma 床の間, with a board floor…

Lit. one of the trump stones, *yaku-ishi 役石, at the guest's entrance to the…

The distance from the ridge of a roof, *munagi 棟木, to the eave end, *…

Lit. path-dividing stone. A type of trump stone, *yaku-ishi 役石. A stepping…

Also called fumi-ita 踏板. The horizontal surface, known as the tread, on steps or stairs. The board, plank, or…

Lit. boat shape. A type of functional or decorative water basin, *chōzubachi…

Also funagatakō 舟形光. Lit. boat-shaped halo. A halo, *kōhai 光背, with a…

A boat-shaped bracket arm placed directly on top of a pillar to carry a purlin, *gagyō…

Lit. A boat-landing stone. A large, flat stone used as a kind of dock in large pond gardens where boating took place. Even…

Also called *yakata tenjō 屋形天井, an upside-down houseboat-shaped ceiling. A…

Also read fundame. A technique of coating a statue with gold. Used during and after the Kamakura period. The figure…

Also funnugyō 忿怒形 or shinnusō 瞋怒相. An angry expression found on Buddhist images. The opposite of *…

1　A Tang Dynasty term for rough sketches or underdrawings made with gesso powder, *…

Also pronounced funsōe or funsōi. A Buddhist monk's robe made from rags. According to Buddhist tradition,…

Refers to the pitch of a roof that is different on the front and back from the pitch of the sides. The hip rafters at the…

A hip rafter, *sumigi 隅木, which cannot bisect the purlins, *…

The center line of a surface that has been divided equally. The line may run vertically or horizontally. This center point…