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…

Lit. "inner horse exit." A defensive installation *umadashi 馬出 constructed to fortify the…

1　The inner moat of a castle that has two or more moats.

2　The moat dug on the…

A strike-through chisel. Normally, when constructing a pass-through mortise, the timber is carved away from both sides with…

A subordinate entry in houses possessing a formal guest entry *genkan 玄関, and…

Also written 内隈. Lit. "interior shading." A technique *kumadori 隈取 in non-…

Also written 内曇. Also called kumogami 雲紙. Abbreviation of uchigumorigami 打曇紙. A type of decorated paper,…

A technique used to hollow out the interior of a wooden statue. The hollow produced is also called uchiguri.…

Also read naikaku. Also called naijō 内城. An inner compound. Generally, it refers to the central…

Also pronounced uttegaeshi 打って返し, utasegaeshi 打たせ返し. Perfect symmetry on both sides of a center line…

An unbelted woman's outer garment worn over the *kosode 小袖 on formal occasions…

Lit. "pounded and inserted stone joinery." The most common stone work technique used to build a dry construction castle wall…

Pillars *hashira 柱 with an inward incline. Uchikorobi…

Rafters *taruki 垂木 that extend from the flying rafter support *…

Lit. "inner square box." A type of walled compound *masugata 桝形…

1　The inside measurement between the inner sides of two posts or pillars *…

A penetrating tie beam *nuki 貫 placed directly on top of a door or…

Also called uchinorimono 内法物. The wooden materials used for the framework of a sliding screen *…

Inner tea garden. The part of the double tea garden nijū roji 二重露地, between the middle gate *…

A type of loophole *sama 狭間. An opening in a wall for soldiers to…

Lit. "fan painting." A painting either directly on a fan *uchiwa 団扇, or on a round format…

Also read dansen. A round or oval fan made of paper or silk pasted over a framework of thin strips of bamboo.…

1　A wide post at the interface between the earth-floored space *doma…

Also written 卯建, 宇立, うだつ; all read udachi, odatsu, or odachi.

1　A term…

1　A rudimentary thatched dwelling hut or ancillary structure with a gable roof *…

1　A relatively short horizontal timber that functions like a brace. It is attached to and extends outward…

Also called *kidomon 木戸門. A simple gate with two main posts…

Lit. "planting." A technique used to make wooden statues, where the hair and beard are made separately, and then attached to…

An open site, generally in Okinawa, devoid of any kind of structure, from where the gods are worshipped. Most sites are…

Lit. "nightingale floor." Floor boards which rub together when walked on to produce a pleasant and delicate sound. This type…

Lit. "bush warbler fence." A common type of rustic sleeve fence *sodegaki…

An abbreviation of Kongō sekishō zenshin uhō dōji 金剛赤精善神雨宝童子. A manifestation of the Buddha *…

A modern city in the southern part of Kyoto where the Byōdōin 平等院 (1052) is located. Historically, Uji was a resort for the…

A visual motif in the *yamato-e やまと絵 tradition, depicting the…

Lit. "Battles of the Uji 宇治 River." Two dramatic and decisive battles that took place near the Uji bridge, over the river,…

A small-sized preliminary sketch undertaken by an artist expressly at the request of a patron. These sketches may be…

Also written 有気絵. Woodblock prints or paintings *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 produced for an individual…

Also written 請花, 受華, 請華; sometimes pronounced ukehana. Flower-shaped support. A support in the shape of an open,…

Also *chūdai 中台. Middle base.

A generic term for all supporting or receiving structural members. For example, a timber that receives an eave cornice is…

The indentation in the middle of the base *kiso 基礎 of a lantern…

Lit. "floating picture." Usually a woodblock print, in which the three-dimensionality of a scene is emphasized by using one…

Formerly known as hanshutsuzō 半出像. A relief, or a method used to carve a relief on a flat surface. Halfway…

A pictorial subject taken from "Ukifune" ("A Boat upon the Waters"), Chapter 51 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

Lit. "pictures of the floating world." Paintings and woodblock prints of genre themes developed from the mid-Edo to early…

Currents of Thought on Ukiyo-e, a series of biographies of *ukiyo-e …

Lit. "books of the floating world." Printed books containing illustrated prose stories which developed from the Kamigata…

Marigold, saffron yellow. A bright yellow dye taken from the root stalk of the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa).…

A main castle gate *koguchi 虎口 with a small barrier or compound…

A castle entrance barrier. A small barrier or compound, built in front of a castle gate *…

Paintings of horses on pairs of folding screen *byōbu 屏風. Beginning in the Heian…

A standing screen *tsuitate shōji 衝立障子 decorated with horses that was…

A stable. Also written 厩. Also maya 馬屋 or 厩, keiya けいや, and kyūsha 厩舎. Applied to both a…

Also keima-zu 繋馬図. Paintings of horses tethered in a stable. Although the subject is found in a 13th-century…

A gable pendant *gegyo 懸魚 with an irregular hexagonal shape. The…

A pictorial subject based on "Umegae" ("A Branch of Plum"), Chapter 32 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Also read umeki. A wooden dowel or plug used to fill a hole in a piece of timber. If a knot or some other flaw…

To fill in any remaining open spaces with sand, gravel, soil, or other such substances, after the foundation and all…

Lit. "sea stone." A generic name for stones found in the ocean or along the seashore. Because sea stones contain salt, and…

A type of lantern. These six-sided lanterns are the same as the kasuga type, but they were carved by a stonemason…

Also written 暈繝. Also *ungen zaishiki 繧繝彩色, lit. "rainbow coloring." A…

Also written 暈繝彩色. A method of coloring used in painting as well as for decorative motifs in crafts and architecture. Also…

A decorated cloth binding used for the border of a straw mat *tatami 畳…

1　Chinese: yunqiwen.
An ancient Chinese decorative design formed from C and S shapes. It is…

School of painters, founded by the 16th-century artist Unkoku Tōgan 雲谷等顔 (1547-1618), who considered themselves to be in the…

Lit. "cloud design." A broad classification of the various designs used to represent clouds. It is known throughout Asia,…

Also hanchiku 班竹, madaradake まだらだけ, buchidake ぶちだけ, tanbahanchiku タンバハンチク, …

Lit. "rabbit-fur cover." Also *karahafu gegyo 唐破風懸魚. 

A generic term for backing boards, which are boards nailed over rafters to form a backing for the roofing. In an open roof…

Also called uragaeshi 裏返 or yobinuri 呼塗. Soft, rough plaster arakabe tsuchi 荒壁土 applied to…

Also called urame 裏目.
The scale marked on the back side of a carpenter's square, which is the square root of…

Also urappo 裏穂. A thatching material used on vernacular dwellings *minka…

Visible eaves filler placed the eave support *kayaoi 茅負, and projected slightly…

Also read uragomi. The process of filling the gaps in the rear of a stone retaining wall or stone fence with rubble…

A painting technique used to apply metal foil *haku 箔 to the back…

Also called urajiro 裏白. Type of door used for storage buildings *dozō…

A plaster wall which has mud plaster applied to the front side and then to the rear side before the plaster on the front…