Lit. "heavenly youth," also warabemai 童舞 (dancing child). A dance mask representing a young boy with parted hair…

1　Also sangai 傘蓋, hōgai 宝蓋, kagai 華蓋, kengai 懸蓋. Sk: chatra…

Lit. "celestial dog." A bird-like goblin frequently encountered in Japanese folk-beliefs, literature and their pictorial…

Also written 天具帖, 天宮上, 天久常. Fine Japanese paper made from high quality fibers (see *…

Two large posts placed to the right and left of the *kabuki 歌舞伎 stage, kabuki …

Lit. "heaven people."

1　The heavenly gods as opposed to the gods of earth, chigi 地祇.
…

Lit. "ceiling boards." Ceiling boards made from cypress, fir, white or red cedar, and other coniferous trees. The zelkova…

Also called *tenjō-ita 天井板. Single-panel boards side by side to…

Also tenjōkamachi 天井框. A long, light, binding beam, sometimes rabbeted, running horizontally along the wall in the…

Also called arikabe nageshi 蟻壁長押, mawaribuchi nageshi 回縁長押.

1　…

A ceiling joist. A horizontal timber to which a wooden lath *kizuri …

Lit. "ceiling." A ceiling made of cypress boughs erected over seats, according to the Engishiki 延喜式 and Yukiin 悠基院…

The distance from the floor to the ceiling.

Paintings on a ceiling. The coffered ceilings *gōtenjō 格天井 of…

Also read tenjōgeta. Ceiling joists that run lengthwise in a building, below the ceiling structure, to support the…

Also *tenjōketa 天井桁 or tenjō ukegeta 天井受桁. A horizontal beam which…

Also hōkandai 宝冠台. A decorative band around the head found on *bosatsu…

Also tenkei jinbutsu 点景人物. Small-sized human figures and animals added as secondary elements to a landscape…

Chinese Tianmu tea bowls. Black-glazed stoneware bowls, with a conical shape, small foot and thin walls, divided into types…

A stand for a *tenmoku jawan 天目茶碗. Tenmoku 天目 stands were imported from China…

A black glaze used on straight-sided conical teabowls known as tenmoku ware *tenmoku…

Also tenne 纏衣. A long, narrow strip of ornamental cloth, found on images of *…

The placement of one planed timber on top of another planed timber without making any notches.

The Tenpyō period (710-794) begins with the transfer of the capital from Fujiwara 藤原 to Nara (Heijō-kyō 平城京) in 710, and…

Lit. "tower central pillar." A pillar found in the main structure of castles, sometimes used singly and sometimes in pairs.…

Also called tenshukaku 天守閣, tenshuyagura 天守櫓. Also written 天主, 殿主, and 殿守. The principal tower-like…

The independent raised foundation upon which the principal tower *tenshu 天守 was constructed.…

Lit. "flat iron stone." A type of andesite quarried in the Suwa 諏訪 and Kitasaku 北佐久 regions of Nagano Prefecture. The flat,…

Also called jūgan 銃眼 (loophole). A gun loophole or gun port. An opening through which to shoot a firearm from…

A term for an alcove or recess of the *oshi-ita 押板 type found in…

Lit. "musket fence." A type of *sodegaki 袖垣 or *…

Also termed nawadarumi 縄だるみ (slackened rope). A concave shaped stone wall with a curved surface that resembles a…

1　A term used to count the number of steps of a bracket complex. For example, futatesaki 二手先, …

Lit. "candlestick stone." One of the *yaku-ishi 役石 of the *…

Ch: tiexianmiao. Lit. "iron-wire line drawing." A technique used to render the thin, even lines commonly seen in…

A balustrade along a stairway or surrounding a shallow balcony on a high gate *rōmon…

A Buddhist statue made of cast iron. Cast iron statues were not as common in Japan as bronze (see *…

A unique gate at Himeji-jō 姫路城 'Nu'-no-mon 'ぬ'の門 (1601-10), Hyōgo Prefecture. It is tall and has a double story and…

Ch: Tao Yuanming (365-427). The Jin dynasty poet and quintessential Chinese scholar-recluse. A virtual prototype for the…

Ch: Du Fu (712-770). A Chinese poet, considered to be one of China's greatest. An innovator of both poetic style and subject…

The structured elements that cover a window, entrance, or other opening to protect them from the weather or the inside of…

A whetstone, grinder, or grindstone. A tool used to sharpen the blade of a plane or chisel. Carpenters used a set of ranging…

The boards used for the construction of a door including: *mairado 舞良戸 (one…

Also called tōba 塔婆, sotoba 卒都婆 or *tasōtō 多層塔 (many-layered…

Also called toyose 戸寄. A door stop.

1　A thin strip of wood attached to and projecting…

A caricature picture *giga 戯画 which was popular in the…

A manifestation of *Bishamonten 毘沙門天 said to have appeared in the Central Asian…

Lit. "stepping stones." As the key material for the path of the *roji …

Lit. "stepping stone stairs." A type of stepping stone *tobi-ishi 飛石, placed on a slope to…

Also called tobimono 飛物 or hiryō 飛梁. A beam that extends from the eave purlin *…

A pivot-hinged door. *To 戸 refers to sliding doors. However, in a compound word such…

The structure or composition of a door fitting.

Also called tobiradōri 扉通. The alignment of gate pillars *hashira…

Ch: Dongfang Shuo (ca. 154-93 BCE). A Chinese Daoist immortal of the Western Jin associated with the peaches of immortality…

Also sūjiku 枢軸. An almost obsolete term for pivot *jikuzuri 軸吊. The…

A box-like structure into which the rain shutters *amado 雨戸 are stored when not…

Tea contest. Competitive parties featuring taste and classification of tea developed by Heian period aristocrats and wildly…

A type of board roofing *itabuki yane 板葺屋根, whereby boards …

The main, east gate of a temple compound.

Also called masudasuke, tosuke; totsunagi 斗繋. The reinforcement pieces cut into some types…

1　The highest point or top surface of a structural element. For example, keta-no-tōge 桁の峠…

Ch: taoyuantu. Paintings depicting the Chinese story Peach Blossom Spring (Ch: Taohuayuanji, Jp…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 of the *…

An entrance or doorway, the doorsteps; doormat.

Lit. "east seeking hall." A small building at Jishōji 慈照寺, also popularly known as Ginkakuji 銀閣寺 (1485), Kyoto, built by…

Tōhaku's Explanation of Painting, comments of the Momoyama period painter Hasegawa Tōhaku 長谷川等伯 (1539-1610) on well…

Also read Dōhō kosei. Lit. "Dongfeng's tiger voice." A Zen 禅 dialogue in which a tiger is a metaphor for spiritual…

Also called toyo とよ. A generic term for a gutter. When used in traditional architecture, it was generally made of…

A stone or stones onto which the water that flows down a drain pipe splashes. These stones prevent ground erosion from a…

Also tōdaishaku 唐大尺 or tenpyōshaku 天平尺. An ancient unit of measure, approximately 29.6 cm. Renamed *…

Also read sotojiro. An outer castle or fortification.

1　A separately enclosed fortification…

Ch: Tuhui baojian. Precious Mirror of Painting, a late Yuan dynasty history of Chinese painting by Xia…

Also sometimes read Zue sōi. Ch: Tuhui zongyi. Principles of Painting. Chinese painting manual…

Lit. "Eastern Sea [coast] Road, fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō 東海道," which is the road and rest places that linked…

Gilding. A decorative technique used in metalwork, where an object was coated with a thin layer of gold. In Japan, this…

Lit. "evergreen tree." A pine matsu 松, cryptomeria sugi 杉, or sakaki 榊, found in almost all types…

A pestle with a single sharp blade at each end, found as an attribute *jimotsu…

Also called nihon-bashira 二本柱, because originally both the pillars to the left and right of the alcove *…

Also read yuka.

1　Abbreviation for an alcove *tokonoma…

Also ji-ita 地板. The floorboards laid in an alcove *tokonoma 床の間. The…

A transverse member set across the front of the bottom part of an alcove *tokonoma…

The window in the alcove *tokonoma 床の間 of tea ceremony rooms *…

Also written 床店. A small shop *mise 店, or stall, used for retail…

Tokoname 常滑 ware. A rugged, reddish brown stoneware produced from the 11th century in and around the town of Tokoname in…

Lit. "everlasting summer." A pictorial subject taken from "Tokonatsu" ("Wild Carnations"), Chapter 26 of Genji…

Also originally called higashi butsuden'in 東仏殿院. A worship hall placed to the east of the pagoda *…

Lit. "alcove room." A *tatami 畳 mat room with a small alcove. There…

The place adjacent to an alcove *tokonoma 床の間, where various types of shelves…

The Tokugawa period. A rarely used term for the Edo period *Edo jidai…

Also dōbari 胴張り. Lit. "entasis." A tall circular pillar, column, or post which curves gradually reaching its widest…

A type of formal fence associated with the walls surrounding nobles' homes and tearooms *…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing an old, plebeian man used only…

Ch: Deshan. The Chinese priest Deshan Xuanjian (Jp: Tokuzan Senkan 徳山宣鑑, 780-865) who helped preserve Chan 禅 (Jp: Zen) after…

Also called kumimono 組物 or *masugumi 斗組. A bracket complex composed…

A simple miter. The timbers are cut obliquely, usually at 45 degrees, or any other angle as long as the two adjoining…

Also called tomebuta 留蓋; amabutagawara 雨蓋瓦; sumibutagawara 隅蓋瓦. A cover tile, usually…

Also written 供部屋. A room used principally by the servants or attendants tomo 伴, 供 of high ranking visitors both as…

Also nokitomoe 軒巴, *nokidomoegawara 軒巴瓦. A very…

1　Also tomoe 巴. A pattern of one or more curled tadpole shapes inside a circle. The pattern is…

Lit. "dragonfly metal fitting." A type of decorative metal fitting *kazari kanagu…