A type of window named for Oda Uraku 織田有楽 (1547-1621) which incorporates short, small, vertical stripes of bamboo placed…

The hero and title of an ancient tale of a fisherman and his magical journey to a palace beneath the sea. The details vary,…

A technique used to line or back a piece of paper or fabric. Generally, a strong piece of Japanese paper *…

Also called marutagaki 丸太垣. A fence constructed with logs positioned at fairly close intervals and three horizontal…

A technique used to apply color to the reverse side of a painting. Pigments applied to the back of one part of a painting to…

A crosspiece used to secure the back or upper side of a ceiling board.

Bricks or stones set at the back of a brick or stone wall to give it extra support. The term is an abbreviation of …

An unusual type of lantern where the flame window is shaped like a *muhōtō…

Lit. "scale pavement."
One style of *shiki-ishi 敷石 made of…

1　Painting done with colored lacquer iro-urushi 彩漆, made by mixing pigments in a base of…

Lit. "lacquer coating." Lacquerware is also called shikki 漆器 (lacquerware) or nurimono 塗物 (coated things…

Lacquer. A non-resinous sap taken from Rhus verniciflua, a tree which grows in East Asian countries.…

A wooden, gate-like entrance *torii 鳥居 of the myōjin 明神…

1　A particularly large beam that runs in a longitudinal direction, ketayuki hōkō 桁行方向 (see *…

Also *kagami-ishi 鏡石. Lit. "back stone." A stone water basin that…

The flowing curve of the rear slope of a gable roof in the flowing style *nagare-…

The placement of primary and secondary rocks in a group, so that the secondary ones are diagonally right and left and to the…

The rear stage between dressing rooms and the rear door of the main stage in a *kabuki…

A rear wing which extends from the main structure of a folk dwelling *minka…

See *nikkei 肉髻. A hemispherical protuberance emerging from the head of a…

Also usofuki, sometimes written 嘯吹. Lit. "bluffer or whistler"; a humorous mask used in kyōgen 狂言 plays.…

Also abbreviated usuki 薄器. A container for weak-flavored tea. Early usuchaki had a cylindrical shape, but…

A pictorial subject taken from "Usugumo" ("A Rack of Clouds"), Chapter 19 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

A lid with a high center used for a tea ceremony kettle *chanoyugama…

Also asanikubori 浅肉彫, asaukibori 浅浮彫, teiukibori 低浮彫, usuukibori 薄浮彫. A type of…

1　An alternative term for all or part of the earth-floored area, *doma…

Ususama also Usushima 烏芻渋摩 is a transliteration of the Sanskrit Ucchusma, originally an epithet of Agni, the Indian…

Lit. "thin sills." A lintel and sill used under and above transom *ranma 欄間.…

Also written 臼当; also called dōzuki 胴付. The recessed surface of a wooden member that surrounds a protruding tenon…

1　A small-scale freestanding structure containing a mortar or hand mill, usu 臼, for pounding rice…

1　Also written 薄葉. An extremely thin piece of paper, usually *…

A series of paintings, usually in handscroll format, arranged as if in a poetry contest uta-awase 歌合, where poems…

Lit. "poem-painting."

1　A painting which illustrates the setting described in a Japanese poem, …

Lit. "singing nuns." A type of mid-Edo period prostitute who dressed to resemble Buddhist nuns bikuni and chanted…

Lit. "Utagawa school." The most prolific school of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists in the late Edo…

Also read Udennō. Lit. "King Udayana." An Indian king, reportedly the first person to commission a statue of the Buddha. The…

A hill on the border between the Abe 安部 and Shida 志太 districts of Suruga 駿河 Province (present day Shizuoka Prefecture). A…

Also written 空柱. Lit. "hollow pillar." A box-like down-spout tatedoi 竪樋 used to carry rainwater from roof gutters…

Also called tanihiragawara 谷平瓦. Lit. "broad valley tile." A slightly concave tile used in the valley formed by the…

A pictorial subject based on "Utsusemi" ("The Shell of the Locust"), Chapter 3 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

A simplification or change in the form of a painting which may occur during the copying process. When the shape or position…

A copy or a facsimile. The term refers not only to copies of calligraphy or painting, but also reproductions of ceramics. In…

Also called tenba 天端.

1　The top surface of an object, or the peak of a structural member.…

Also written 上貼, also called visible top layer keshōbari 化粧張, front side hyōmenbari 表面張 or finishing…

1　The upper corners of any beam cut at an angle.

2　The upper corners of the…

Also pronounced uwagi.

1　The uppermost timber of two joined structural elements. Often…

The upper-most eave of a nokizuke 軒付 or nokiba 軒端 eave end. Each part of the eave has a name. The…

1　Also shiagenuri 仕上げ塗. The final layer applied to a decorative painting sōshoku kōji…

The top or finishing coat of a mud plaster wall, tsuchimonokabe 土物壁 or ōtsukabe 大津壁.

A temporary roof or simple structure erected over a building that is being dismantled for repairs or reconstruction. Modern…

Also called tori-no-shita 鳥の舌 (lit. "bird's tongue"). A somewhat triangular piece of wood added to a bracket arm *…

A board with a carved spiral-like uzusen 渦線 linear design. It is found on frog-leg struts *…

Also written 宇豆柱. The pillars at center, front, and rear of the main prayer hall *honden…

Also uzumakimon 渦巻文, uzugata 渦形, volute, scroll. A decorative spiral pattern found throughout the world on…

Lit. "buried gate."

1　A gate constructed within the stone walls of a castle. It was used to connect…

Lit. "curly young leaf."
A decorative pattern resembling leaves with curved tips. It has been used on ornamental roof…