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JAANUS

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  • Accessories (1)
  • Architecture (269)
  • Aristocratic Dwellings (2)
  • Art History (160)
  • Buildings (23)
  • Castles (13)
  • Crafts (6)
  • Decorations (13)
  • Document (10)
  • Folk Dwellings (24)
  • Gardens (13)
  • Gates (11)
  • General Terms (129)
  • Iconography (26)
  • Joints (4)
  • Lanterns (2)
  • Painting (79)
  • Roofing Tiles (17)
  • Sculpture (39)
  • Shrines (10)
  • Structures (23)
  • Tea Houses (19)
  • Tools (3)

Displaying 101 - 200 of 426
Title Contains Image(s) Description Keywords
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
butsuden-zu 仏伝図

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

Art History, Iconography
butsudō 仏堂

Also called *butsuden 仏殿; bukkaku 仏閣, *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
butsugan 仏龕

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

Art History, Sculpture
Butsugen butsumo 仏眼仏母

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

Art History, Iconography
Butsugen mandara 仏眼曼荼羅

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

Art History, Iconography
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

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

Architecture, Gates
Butsunichian kōmotsu mokuroku 仏日庵公物目録

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

Art History, Painting, Document
butsuzō 仏像

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

Art History, Sculpture
buzai 部材

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

Architecture, General Terms
byakudan 白檀

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

Art History, Sculpture
Byakue Kannon 白衣観音

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

Art History, Iconography
byakugō 白毫 ✓

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

Art History, Sculpture
byakugun 白群

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

Art History, Painting
byakuroku 白緑

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

Art History, Painting
byōbu-e 屏風絵

Paintings on folding screens *byōbu 屏風. 

The earliest record of…

Art History, Painting
byōbu 屏風

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

Art History, Painting
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.
1 A pagoda constructed to enshrine a Buddhist image.
2 A five…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
naga-ita 長板

Lit. "a long board."


1 The board used as the base of the *…

Architecture, Tea Houses
naga-itabuki 長板葺

1 An early term for long boards used on roofs. Records dating from the 8th century first used the terms…

Architecture, General Terms
nagakikkō 長亀甲

An elongated hexagon or a decorative pattern consisting of a series of elongated hexagon shapes.

Architecture, Decorations
nagamarugawara 長丸瓦

Longer than standard semi-cylindrical roof tiles used as coping tiles *kasagawara…

Architecture, Roofing Tiles
nagare 流

Lit. "flowing."

1 The flow of the roof line from the ridge *…

Architecture, General Terms
nagare-zukuri 流造 ✓

Also nagare hafu-zukuri 流破風造. A widely used style of main sanctuary *…

Architecture, Shrines
nagarehozo 流ほぞ ✓

A sloped tenon, which is cut into the end of a beam. The top of the tenon is flush with the top surface of the beam. The…

Architecture, Joints
Nagasaki-ha 長崎派

A term used to group a number of artists and artistic styles associated with the city of Nagasaki 長崎 from the 17th through…

Art History, Painting
nagasaki hanga 長崎版画

Also called nagasaki-e 長崎絵 or Nagasaki prints. Woodblock prints made in the port city of Nagasaki during the Edo…

Art History, Painting
nagashi 流し

1 A sink used for washing food before its preparation, for washing utensils after a meal, or for washing…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
nagate 長手

The long side of a timber, or a timber placed in a lengthwise direction.

Architecture, General Terms
nagatoko 長床

A room at Kumano Jinja 熊野神社, in Fukushima Prefecture, which is similar to a worshipper's hall *…

Architecture, Shrines
nagaya 長屋

Longhouse, or row house. A house with a long ridge. Also indicates a house with a number of residences connected under a…

Architecture, General Terms
nagayamono 長屋物

The smallest of three standard sizes of roof tiles yanegawara 屋根瓦, used during the 17th-19th century. The…

Architecture, Roofing Tiles
Nageiredō 投入堂 ✓

Also once known as Zaōdō 蔵王堂. The Nageiredō is a small building, constructed in the overhang style kake-zukuri 懸造,…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
nagekakebari 投掛梁 ✓

A transverse beam *hari 梁 made in two sections and coupled by a stub-tenon-…

Architecture, General Terms
nageshi 長押 ✓

Non-penetrating tie beams that are made to fit around pillars *hashira 柱 of…

Architecture, General Terms
nageshibiki 長押挽

A long rectangular beam cut along a diagonal cross-section and used as a non-penetrating tie *nageshi…

Architecture, General Terms
nagimayu 薙眉

Also called naginata mayu 薙刀眉 or 長刀眉. A type of carved molding *kurigata…

Architecture, Decorations
naginatazori 長刀反

A sudden strong, upward curve at the corner ends of eaves. Especially characteristic of the Zen style *…

Architecture, General Terms
naidō 内堂

Buddhist priests' living quarters. Higher-ranking priests had two rooms one behind the other. The inner room was called the…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
naiheki 内壁

1 An interior wall partition.

2 The inner surface of a wall.

Architecture, General Terms
naijimon 内侍門

Also read naishimon. Traditionally, the timbergate through which virgin attendants entered a shrine. Structurally,…

Architecture, Gates
naijin 内陣 ✓

The inner sanctum located in the main halls *kondō 金堂 or *…

Architecture, General Terms
naijinbashira 内陣柱 ✓

Also called moyabashira 母屋柱; irikawabashira入側柱. The pillars placed on the boundary between, or slightly…

Architecture, General Terms
naijō 内城

The innermost compound *kuruwa 郭 of a castle. Sometimes called *…

Architecture, Castles
naiku 内区 ✓

The inner section of the pendant *gatō 瓦当, attached to a semi-…

Architecture, Roofing Tiles
Naikūgen torii 内宮源鳥居

Small entrance-gates at Yoshida Jinja 吉田神社 in Kyoto. They are located in front of two small shrines behind the octagonal…

Architecture, Shrines
nainaijin 内内陣

1 A miniature shrine within the sanctuary of a Shinto shrine.

2 The innermost…

Architecture, Shrines
naka-ita 中板

A board which is inserted between the host's mat *temaedatami 点前畳 and the…

Architecture, Tea Houses
naka-no-kuchi 中の口

1 A semi-formal entrance to Honmaru Goten 本丸御殿, the main palace in Edo-jō 江戸城. It was situated at the east…

Architecture, General Terms
Naka-no-Mibumon 中の壬生門

According to the Shokunihongi 続日本紀, a gate leading to the waiting area for all officials, chōshūden…

Architecture, Gates
naka-no-to 中の戸

1 A generic term for a door connecting two areas of a structure.


2 A door in the…

Architecture, General Terms
nakabachi-no-tsukubai 中鉢の蹲踞

A garden wash-basin set characterized by the use of gravel surrounding it. The gravel allows the water from hand washing to…

Architecture, Tea Houses
nakabashira 中柱

1 Also *daimebashira 台目柱. A small pillar which stands at…

Architecture, Tea Houses, Folk Dwellings
nakado 中戸 ✓

A pair of sliding doors *hikichigai 引違, separating the front…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
nakadoi 中樋 ✓

A rain gutter placed at the bottom point where two roofs meet. Similar to *narabidō 双堂…

Architecture, General Terms
nakadoma machiya 中土間町家

An urban vernacular residence *machiya 町家, characterised by a…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
nakadoma 中土間

An inner earth-floored area found in *nakadoma machiya…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
nakagamachi 中框

Also called nakazan 中桟. A middle rail. A horizontal rail or rails inserted into stiles tategamachi 竪框 and…

Architecture, General Terms
nakago 中型

Also written 中子. Sometimes known as *ogata 雄型. Inner mould. When a metal statue…

Art History, Sculpture
nakahōdate 中方立

A vertical, finishing strip of wood placed between the threshold *shikii 敷居 and…

Architecture, General Terms
nakai 中居

1 A private service-oriented room in the mansions of aristocrats, warriors, retired emperors, abbots and…

Architecture, General Terms, Folk Dwellings
nakaita-no-seki 中板席

A tea ceremony room or house that contains a board *naka-ita 中板, set between the host's mat…

Architecture, Tea Houses
nakajō 中城

Also *ni-no-maru 二の丸, ni-no-kuruwa 二の郭, naka-no-maru 中の丸.…

Architecture, Castles
nakako 中子 ✓

Also called sakuko 柵子, kakusaku 角柵, marutazaku 丸太柵. The stakes used to support the fencing set in…

Architecture, General Terms
nakakugi 中釘

Also *hanakugi 花釘, tokonakakugi 床中釘 (see *…

Architecture, Tea Houses
nakakuguri 中潜

Lit. "middle wicket." Also pronounced uchisomi. It is sometimes called kuguri 潜. A type of middle…

Architecture, Tea Houses
nakaniwa 中庭

1 A place for hanging clothes in vernacular dwellings of the Kantō 関東 region.


2 …

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
nakanuri 中塗り ✓

Also called chūgomi 中込, nakazuke or chūzuke 中付. A middle layer of plaster applied between the…

Architecture, General Terms
nakaore 中折

An architectural element that is bent or has a concave mid-point. A diagonal brace, for example, if less than 90 cm wide,…

Architecture, General Terms
nakashikii 中敷居

Also read chūjikii. Lit. "middle sill." A sill on a shelf that divides a closet into two parts, lower and upper.…

Architecture, General Terms
nakasukido 中透戸

Also called nakashōji 中障子, yoshiwara shōji 吉原障子, takeshōji 竹障子, nakanukido 中抜戸 and …

Architecture, General Terms
nakatatezan 中竪桟

Also written 中縦桟. A vertical stile placed at the mid-point of a paneled door. A centrally placed horizontal stile is called…

Architecture, General Terms
nakatsubo 中坪

Also written 中壷. The inner court between shop and living quarters in a merchant's house in the Edo period.

Architecture, General Terms
nakayama torii 中山鳥居

Also called banshi torii 伴氏鳥居. A stone entrance-gate to a Shinto shrine *torii…

Architecture, Shrines
nakazonae 中備 ✓

Also written 中具. Secondary or intermediate supports placed in the interstices between the bracket complexes *…

Architecture, General Terms
nakazuka 中束 ✓

A generic term for struts *tsuka 束 that are set at the mid-point between two…

Architecture, General Terms
namakogata 海鼠形

A decorative shape said to resemble a sea slug, namako 海鼠. The shape is often used for the material handles of…

Architecture, Decorations
namakokabe 海鼠壁 ✓

Also written 生子壁. A traditional finish for *dozō-zukuri 土蔵造 and *…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
namanari 生成

Lit. "Becoming bestial." A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 used for the wife taking revenge…

Art History, Sculpture
namazu-e 鯰絵

Pictures of a catfish, namazu 鯰. Japanese legend has it that the movement of large catfish deep inside the earth…

Art History, Painting
namigata renji 波型連子

Also namirenji 波連子, yumirenji 弓連子, tatewaki renji 立涌連子. A type of latticework renji…

Architecture, General Terms
namionigawara 波鬼瓦 ✓

An ogre tile with a wave pattern descending from its base to form legs ashimoto 足元, that divide over the gable of…

Architecture, Roofing Tiles
nanako 魚々子 ✓

Also written 魚子, 斜子. Lit. "fish-roe."
1 A pattern of small dots thought to resemble fish-roe, and…

Art History, Architecture, Gardens, Crafts
nanakogaki 魚子垣

Also urokogaki 鱗垣, gonomegaki 互の目垣. A fence made from semi-circular pieces of bamboo or metal. Bamboo…

Architecture, Gardens
nanakomachi 七小町 ✓

Lit. "the seven Komachi." Seven episodes concerning the mid-9th century poetess Ono no Komachi 小野小町, one of the Six Poetic…

Art History, Painting
nanatsu-ishi 七つ石

Seven trump stones in the *roji 露地 or tea garden. They are the hand-washing stone…

Architecture, Tea Houses
nanban byōbu 南蛮屏風

Folding screens *byōbu 屏風, usually in a pair, depicting Portuguese and…

Art History, Painting
nanban-e 南蛮絵

Western painting brought by the Portuguese and Spanish who arrived in Japan in the 16th century, nanban bijutsu…

Art History, General Terms
nanban 南蛮

Lit. "Southern barbarian art." Considered to be the first manifestation of direct Western influence on Japanese culture,…

Art History, General Terms
Nanbokuchō jidai 南北朝時代

The Southern and Northern Court period (1336-92). It takes its name from two separate antagonistic Imperial courts supported…

Art History, General Terms
Nanbōroku 南方録

Book of Sen no Rikyū's 千利休 (1522-91) tea ceremony secrets which consists of seven volumes entitled: "Memoranda Oboegaki…

Architecture, Tea Houses, Document
nandaimon 南大門 ✓

The great south gate at Tōdaiji 東大寺 in Nara. The term is also used for the main south gate at other temples.

Architecture, Gates
nando 納戸

1 A store room in which clothes and valuables could be kept in the houses of the civil, ecclesiastical and…

Architecture, General Terms
nanga 南画

Lit. "Southern painting." An abbreviation of *nanshūga 南宗画, which…

Art History, Painting
nanken-nanko 何間 何戸

Lit. "How many bays? How many entrances?" Questions posed in order to ascertain the number of bays *…

Architecture, Gates

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JAANUS is the on-line Dictionary of Japanese Architectural and Art Historical Terminology compiled by Dr. Mary Neighbour Parent.

Originally built by the Atsumi International Scholarship Foundation, it is now hosted and maintained by the Media Center for Art History at Columbia University