Lit. horse-mouth mudra. A mudra or hand gesture *in 印, formed by placing both palms…

Lit. bind (Sk: bandha). A mudra or hand gesture *in 印, formed by clasping both…

A gigaku mask *gigakumen 伎楽面, representing a Brahmin (the highest…

Also written 髪頭, 鉢頭, 撥頭. A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 and the mask of a terse,…

Also 辮髪. A long rope of hair hanging down the left side of the face and the left shoulder of a sculpted figure.…

Also called akujō beshimi 悪尉べし見, depending upon the school of Noh mask *nōmen…

Also sōgyō 僧形. A statue of a figure with a round shaved head, usually representing a Buddhist priest. Most commonly…

An abbreviation of *Bishamonten 毘沙門天, one of the four heavenly kings, or *…

A box for sutras. Indian sutras were written on long, narrow palm leaves. The leaves were stacked one top of the other, with…

1　Abbreviation of bodai satta 菩提薩た, a transliteration of the Sanskrit bodhisattva (Pari bodhisatta…

A mask used in kyōgen 狂言 plays to represent a demon. Glaring eyes, a wide jaw, and bared teeth give the mask a…

Masks worn when performing certain of the *bugaku 舞楽 dances developed from…

Also bukkō 仏工, zōbusshi 造仏師. A sculptor of Buddhist statues. 

The term was first used in the…

The lineage of a Buddhist sculptor *busshi 仏師, often presented as a…

A workshop or school of Buddhist sculptors *busshi 仏師. Bussho usually…

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

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

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

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

Spiral shaped curls of hair, like snail-shells, on the head of a *nyorai…

Lit. "welcoming mudra." A mudra or hand gesture *in 印 in which the forefinger,…

A net-like ornament strung with jewels or precious metals and hung from the canopy *…

Lit. "lotus petal."
1　A pendant *gatō 瓦当, found on semi-…

Also renza 蓮座. Lit. "Lotus base" (Sk: padmasana). A dais for a Buddhist image *…

The central section of a lotus flower pedestal *rengeza 蓮華座 on which a Buddhist image usually…

A manner of representing drapery folds in Buddhist sculpture. It consists of either 

1) a high…

Ch: Lishi. A gigaku mask *gigakumen 伎楽面…

Ch: Lin Hejing (967-1028). A noted poet, calligrapher and scholar of the Northern Song dynasty. Rin Nasei's real name was…

A type of halo *kōhai 光背 used on Buddhist images, forming a free-…

The royal ease position (Sk: Maharajalilasana). A seated position used for a Buddhist image with one knee (usually…

Also rōgata chūzō 蝋型鋳造, rōgata imono 蝋型鋳物. A method of metal casting known as the lost-wax…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing the aged, yet beautiful face of…

A Buddhist sculpture workshop *bussho 仏所, active from the 11th-14th century and…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing the suffering spirit of a woman…

Also Raryōō 羅陵王, Ranryōō 蘭陵王 (King Lanling), and Ryūō 龍王 (Dragon King, see *…

Also read ritsuzō. A Buddhist image which is standing, as opposed to seated (see *…