| Title | Contains Image(s) | Description | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|
| bai 唄 | ✓ | A circular nail head cover *kugikakushi 釘隠, placed over a nail to attach a… |
Architecture, Decorations |
| baijō 梅杖 | Lit. plum post. A wooden post used to support the heavy but structurally weak branches of old plum trees. |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| baikenmon 梅軒門 | Lit. plum eaves gate. Also written 梅見門. A type of gate used in tea gardens *roji… |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| baku 瀑 | A cascade. A type of garden waterfall in which the water falls at a 90 degree angle. One common type of baku is the… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| bakuhana 獏鼻 | ✓ | Lit. tapir nose. Also called bakugashira 獏頭. A type of nosing *kibana… |
Architecture, Decorations |
| bakuryō 曝涼 | Lit. airing. Also called mushiboshi 虫干. The practice of inspecting and airing valuables that have been in storage… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| ban 盤 | A heavy wooden plank placed above the ceiling of the first story of a two-storied pagoda *… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| banbei 蕃塀 | ✓ | Also pronounced hanbei. A single, free-standing, short timber fence placed as a guard in front of the north, east,… |
Architecture, Shrines |
| banchi ばん池 | Also called hanchi 畔池 written with the character ばん池, to indicate a 'halved pond.' Lit. levee pond. A type of… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| banjiro 番城 | Short for zaiban shijō 在番支城. A branch castle *shijō 支城, with… |
Architecture, Castles | |
| banshin 番神 | Also kyakushin 客神, ishin 夷神. Also written 蛮神 banshin. Gods that were thought to have originated… |
Architecture, Shrines | |
| banzuke 番付 | A system used to label each structural members of a building before construction, while being dismantled for repair, or… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| battari shōgi ばったり床几 | Alternative term for a shop-front shutter and folding table *agemise … |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings | |
| bentendō 弁天堂 | Also called benzaitendō 弁才天堂. A small structure that houses an image of Benten 弁天 (Sk: Sarasvati, *… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| betsugū 別宮 | Also bessha 別社, edamiya 枝宮, or edayashiro 枝社. |
Architecture, Shrines | |
| betsuin 別院 | Also called *gobō 御坊. In the Nagoya area, it is called kakesho… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| biseki 尾石 | Lit. tail stone. A stone in a rock garden that represents the tail of a tortoise *… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| bishamon kikkō 毘沙門亀甲 | A decorative pattern composed of three joined hexagonal shapes. It is named after the guardian deity *… |
Architecture, Decorations | |
| bishamondō 毘沙門堂 | ✓ | A temple hall dedicated to *Bishamonten 毘沙門天, one of the four gods, or *… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures |
| biwa-ita 琵琶板 | Also written 枇杷板. |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| bokashi 暈 | 1 A gradation of colors or tones from dark to light or vice versa. One example is colorization of the… |
Architecture, Decorations, Art History, Painting | |
| bokuseki 墨跡 | Black ink brush writing by Zen 禅 priests, as well as by laymen who practiced Zen meditations and wrote Buddhist sermons, or… |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| bokusekimado 墨蹟窓 | A window on the side wall of an alcove *tokonoma 床の間, used to provide light… |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| bonjimon 梵字文 | ✓ | Lit. Sanskrit motif. A Sanskrit character, bonji 梵字, that decorates pendants *… |
Architecture, Roofing Tiles |
| bōrōgata tenshu 望楼型天守 | ✓ | A lookout tower set atop the roof of a residence *kyokan 居館, usually a… |
Architecture, Castles |
| botan karakusa 牡丹唐草 | 1 Abbreviation of botan karakusagawara 牡丹唐草瓦. A roof tile, often an eaves-end tile, whose pendant… |
Architecture, Roofing Tiles, Painting, Art History | |
| bōzumi 棒隅 | Lit. straight corner. |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| budō karakusamon 葡萄唐草文 | ✓ | Also abbreviated to *budō karakusa 葡萄唐草. A grape-patterned arabesque used… |
Architecture, Roofing Tiles |
| bugakuryū teien 武学流庭園 | Lit. garden of the Bugaku lineage. A style of Japanese garden developed in the middle of the Edo period by Ōishi Bugaku 大石武学… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| buke-zukuri 武家造 | A style of residential architecture in use among the bushi 武士 or warrior class. As defined by the early 20th-… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| bukku 仏供 | Also jukubukku 熟仏供, butsuhan 仏飯, or butsushō 仏餉. Cooked rice made as an offering to the Buddha,… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| bunmawashi 規 | An old term for a compass used to draw circles. They were imported from Portugal. The beam compass has a large radius,… | Architecture, Tools | |
| buntōgata 分棟型 | ✓ | Lit. divided-ridge style. Often abbreviated to buntō 分棟 and sometimes referred to as betsumune-zukuri… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings |
| burō 廡廊 | A corridor that enclosed an open area or surrounded a space in which buildings were erected. A term from the 7th-9th century… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| bussharitō 仏舎利塔 | Also called *sharitō 舎利塔. A reliquary in a stupa or pagoda. These could be… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| busshōya 仏餉屋 | ✓ | Also called gokusho 御供所. A Buddhist building used to prepare ritual food offerings called busshō 仏餉, *… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures |
| busshudana 仏守棚 | Lit. Buddha protecting shelf. A type of decorative shelf with sliding-door cabinets on the bottom and an ogee-shaped… | Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings | |
| butaigamachi 舞台框 | Lit. stage framework. A framing member that runs the entire width of the upper part of a *… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| butaikabe 舞台壁 | Lit. proscenium wall. The wall at the front part of a *kabuki 歌舞伎 stage. |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| butsudan 仏壇 | ✓ | An altar or tabernacle in the form of a podium, table, recess, or cabinet used in the sanctuaries of temples and in private… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings |
| butsudan-no-ma 仏壇の間 | ✓ | A room in traditional vernacular houses *minka 民家, in parts of Hyōgo Prefecture… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings |
| butsuden 仏殿 | ✓ | Also *daiyū hōden 大雄宝殿. The main hall of a Zen temple. Butsuden… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures |
| butsudō 仏堂 | Also called *butsuden 仏殿; bukkaku 仏閣, *… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| butsuma 仏間 | A room for Buddhist images (either two- or three-dimensional images) or, especially in a residence, an altar or tabernacle… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures, Folk Dwellings | |
| butsumon 仏門 | Architecture, Gates | ||
| buzai 部材 | A generic term for the structural members which form the framework *honegumi… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| byōbudana 屏風棚 | A type of decorative double hanging shelf *tsuridana 釣棚, placed in an alcove… |
Architecture, Accessories | |
| byōbuori 屏風折 | Also termed *orihei 折塀 (folding wall). A castle wall that zig-zags… |
Architecture, Castles | |
| byōmon 廟門 | ✓ | Also called reibyōmon 霊廟門. An entrance gate to a mausoleum. It can be an elaborate gate in two-storied or simulated… |
Architecture, Gates |
| byōtō 廟塔 | Lit. mausoleum pagoda. |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| kabe shitaji 壁下地 | The framework for a mud-plastered wall. It consists of lath, bamboo crosspieces *… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kabedoko 壁床 | ✓ | A wall alcove. An alcove that has no recessed space and no appurtenances such as a framing board *… |
Architecture, Tea Houses |
| kabegaki 壁垣 | A generic term for shrine fences *tamagaki 玉垣. A fence built at shrines from… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kabekomai 壁小舞 | ✓ | Also written 壁木舞. Thinly split lath set vertically and horizontally to form the framework *… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| kabemochi bashira 壁持柱 | Small diameter posts set between two pillars to support horizontal circular laths called kabemawatashi 壁間渡. The… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kaben 花弁 | The band of lotus petals *renji 蓮子 which encircles the seed pod *… |
Architecture, Roofing Tiles | |
| kabeshiro 壁代 | A type of curtain hung from the upper non-penetrating tie beam, uwanageshi (or kaminageshi ) 上長押 in temple… |
Architecture, Decorations | |
| kabewatadono 壁渡殿 | Lit. walled bridge corridor. An archaic term for a type of corridor that connects two buildings in a Heian period… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kabuki 冠木 | Also 衡木. A horizontal timber, lintel, or crossbar. |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kabukimon 冠木門 | ✓ | Also written kōmon 衡門. A roofless gate composed of two square gate posts *… |
Architecture, Gates |
| kabumono 株もの | Lit. stump. The term is used to designate trees which have no trunk but grow so that the branches come directly out of the… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| kaburagegyo 蕪懸魚 | ✓ | Lit. turnip bargeboard pendant. A gable pendant *gegyo 懸魚 decorated with… |
Architecture, Decorations |
| kabutomon 兜門 | Lit. helmet gate. A type of front gate in tea gardens *roji 露地 that resembles a… |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| kadozuka 角束 | A short strut used at the corners of podii *kidan 基壇, or a dais *… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kaeribana 反花 | 1 Lotus petal design carved around the lower base kiban 基盤 of a lantern *… |
Architecture, Art History, Sculpture, Lanterns | |
| kaeribanaza 反花座 | Abbreviated to *kaeribana 反花. Also soribana 反り花. A… |
Architecture, Decorations | |
| kaerumata 蟇股 | ✓ | Frog-leg strut. A strut with legs spread like those of a frog. Kaerumata in the early Nara period developed from an… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| kagami-ishi 鏡石 | Lit. mirror stone. |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| kagami ita 鏡板 | Boards or panels planed to a perfectly smooth surface and employed for ceilings or flooring. An example is a thin board… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kagami no ma 鏡の間 | Lit. mirror room. A room separated by a curtain from the passageway hashigakari 橋掛り leading to a noh stage *… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kagami tenjō 鏡天井 | ✓ | Also kagamiita tenjō 鏡板天井. Lit. mirror ceiling. A flat ceiling made of smoothly planed boards shiraki… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| kagamizumi 鏡積み | Lit. mirror piling. A method of masonry used for a stone wall *ishigaki 石垣.… |
Architecture, Castles | |
| kagariya 篝屋 | Guardhouses for soldiers placed at street corners in Kyoto and Kamakura during the Kamakura period. The earliest known … |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| kagebana sōshoku 懸華装飾 | A festoon. Also fesutun フェストゥーン, hanazuna sōshoku 花網装飾, or sagewa kazari 下げ環飾. A carved or molded… |
Architecture, Decorations | |
| kagemori 影盛 | ✓ | A plastered roof ornament on storehouses *dozō 土蔵. Located at the ends of… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| kagiya 鍵屋 | Lit. key-shaped house. A widely used term for vernacular houses *minka 民家, of… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings | |
| kagobori 篭彫 | ✓ | Purfled work. Lit. basket carving. A type of decorative wood carving used on beam projections *… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| kai 階 | Floor or storey, and also a counter for floors in a building. For example, nikai 二階 refers to the second floor or… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kai no kuchitsugi 貝の口継 | ✓ | Lit. shell mouth joint. A straight end-to-end joint *tsugite 継手 used for very… |
Architecture, Joints |
| kaidaka 階高 | The distance from the floor of one story to the floor of the next story. The topmost story is measurement from the floor to… | Architecture, General Terms | |
| kaidan'in 戒壇院 | ✓ | A Tendai 天台 sect building that contains an ordination platform used exclusively for the ceremony to impart the Buddhist… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures |
| kaidan 階段 | One or more steps composed of a tread dan ita 段板 or fumi ita 踏板 and a riser *… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kaidan 戒壇 | A platform or dais used for the Buddhist ordination ceremony. |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| kaigata 貝形 | ✓ | 1 A trapezoid. |
Architecture, General Terms |
| kaigata gegyo 貝形懸魚 | ✓ | Also kaigashira gegyo 貝頭懸魚. Lit. shell-head gable pendant. A type of decorative gable pendant *… |
Architecture, Decorations |
| Kaiki 槐記 | The words and deeds of court-noble Konoe Iehiro 近衛家熈 (1667-1736) as collected by his personal physician Yamashina Dōan 山科道安… |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| kaikō 開口 | Also kaikō ana 開口穴; kaikōbu 開口部. A generic term for an opening made in a wall for a door and window, in… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kaimono 飼物 | Any kind of material used to fill a gap. If the basic material is wood, then wood filler is used. Gaps in stone walls are… | Architecture, General Terms | |
| kaiorekugi 貝折釘 | ✓ | Also written 皆折釘. A large, square, angular nail used for wooden or bamboo fences. Its head is bent at right angles but has a… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| kairō 回廊 | ✓ | Also written 廻廊; also called bu 廡, sōrō 走廊 or *horō 歩廊. Single-… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures |
| kaisandō 開山堂 | ✓ | A hall that enshrines a statue, portrait or memorial tablet of the founder of a temple or the founder of a particular… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures |
| kaisantō 開山塔 | Lit. founder's pagoda. A rare type of wooden pagoda *hōtō 宝塔, constructed… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| kaisho 会所 | 1 A meeting place. Originally specified as a place in a shinden style mansion *… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| kaitomoshi 掻灯 | Also *tsuridōrō 釣灯籠. Lanterns, usually made of metal, hung in the… |
Architecture, Lanterns | |
| kaiyūshiki teien 回遊式庭園 | Lit. stroll style garden. A type of garden designed to be entered and enjoyed on foot. Most gardens can be divided either… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| kajū 荷重 | Also ni 荷. Lit. load. The downward pressure exerted by the roof structure, purlins, transverse beams, etc. on the… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kake domoegawara 掛巴瓦 | Often abbreviated kake domoe 掛巴. The semi-cylindrical eave-end cover tiles, noki kakedomoe marugawara… |
Architecture, Roofing Tiles | |
| kake karakusagawara 掛唐草瓦 | A common term for the broad, concave eave-end pendant tiles that are placed along the gable overhang *… |
Architecture, Roofing Tiles | |
| kakebana 懸鼻 | ✓ | Also read kakehana, and written 掛鼻. A decorative nosing *kibana 木鼻… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| kakedo 掛戸 | Lit. hanging door. A door hung on the outside of a window to prevent the penetration of rain and wind. It is really a… |
Architecture, Tea Houses |
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