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JAANUS

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  • (-) Architecture (87)
  • Accessories (1)
  • Aristocratic Dwellings (4)
  • Art History (4)
  • Buildings (11)
  • Castles (6)
  • Decorations (8)
  • Folk Dwellings (6)
  • Gardens (6)
  • Gates (3)
  • General Terms (24)
  • Joints (5)
  • Painting (2)
  • Roofing Tiles (4)
  • Sculpture (1)
  • Shrines (4)
  • Structures (11)
  • Tea Houses (3)
  • Tools (3)

Displaying 1 - 87 of 87
Title Contains Image(s) Description Keywords
bai 唄 ✓

A circular nail head cover *kugikakushi 釘隠, placed over a nail to attach a…

Architecture, Decorations
baijō 梅杖

Lit. plum post. A wooden post used to support the heavy but structurally weak branches of old plum trees.

Architecture, Gardens
baikenmon 梅軒門

Lit. plum eaves gate. Also written 梅見門. A type of gate used in tea gardens *roji…

Architecture, Tea Houses
baku 瀑

A cascade. A type of garden waterfall in which the water falls at a 90 degree angle. One common type of baku is the…

Architecture, Gardens
bakuhana 獏鼻 ✓

Lit. tapir nose. Also called bakugashira 獏頭. A type of nosing *kibana…

Architecture, Decorations
bakuryō 曝涼

Lit. airing. Also called mushiboshi 虫干. The practice of inspecting and airing valuables that have been in storage…

Architecture, General Terms
ban 盤

A heavy wooden plank placed above the ceiling of the first story of a two-storied pagoda *…

Architecture, General Terms
banbei 蕃塀 ✓

Also pronounced hanbei. A single, free-standing, short timber fence placed as a guard in front of the north, east,…

Architecture, Shrines
banchi ばん池

Also called hanchi 畔池 written with the character ばん池, to indicate a 'halved pond.' Lit. levee pond. A type of…

Architecture, Gardens
banjiro 番城

Short for zaiban shijō 在番支城. A branch castle *shijō 支城, with…

Architecture, Castles
banshin 番神

Also kyakushin 客神, ishin 夷神. Also written 蛮神 banshin. Gods that were thought to have originated…

Architecture, Shrines
banzuke 番付

A system used to label each structural members of a building before construction, while being dismantled for repair, or…

Architecture, General Terms
battari shōgi ばったり床几

Alternative term for a shop-front shutter and folding table *agemise …

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
bentendō 弁天堂

Also called benzaitendō 弁才天堂. A small structure that houses an image of Benten 弁天 (Sk: Sarasvati, *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
betsugū 別宮

Also bessha 別社, edamiya 枝宮, or edayashiro 枝社.

A god is enshrined or venerated as being…

Architecture, Shrines
betsuin 別院

Also called *gobō 御坊. In the Nagoya area, it is called kakesho…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
biseki 尾石

Lit. tail stone. A stone in a rock garden that represents the tail of a tortoise *…

Architecture, Gardens
bishamon kikkō 毘沙門亀甲

A decorative pattern composed of three joined hexagonal shapes. It is named after the guardian deity *…

Architecture, Decorations
bishamondō 毘沙門堂 ✓

A temple hall dedicated to *Bishamonten 毘沙門天, one of the four gods, or *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
biwa-ita 琵琶板

Also written 枇杷板.

1 The board inserted between a bottle strut *…

Architecture, General Terms
bokashi 暈

1 A gradation of colors or tones from dark to light or vice versa. One example is colorization of the…

Architecture, Decorations, Art History, Painting
bokuseki 墨跡

Black ink brush writing by Zen 禅 priests, as well as by laymen who practiced Zen meditations and wrote Buddhist sermons, or…

Architecture, Tea Houses
bokusekimado 墨蹟窓

A window on the side wall of an alcove *tokonoma 床の間, used to provide light…

Architecture, Tea Houses
bonjimon 梵字文 ✓

Lit. Sanskrit motif. A Sanskrit character, bonji 梵字, that decorates pendants *…

Architecture, Roofing Tiles
bōrōgata tenshu 望楼型天守 ✓

A lookout tower set atop the roof of a residence *kyokan 居館, usually a…

Architecture, Castles
botan karakusa 牡丹唐草

1 Abbreviation of botan karakusagawara 牡丹唐草瓦. A roof tile, often an eaves-end tile, whose pendant…

Architecture, Roofing Tiles, Painting, Art History
bōzumi 棒隅

Lit. straight corner.
1 Buildings of any traditional type without curves on structural members under the…

Architecture, General Terms
budō karakusamon 葡萄唐草文 ✓

Also abbreviated to *budō karakusa 葡萄唐草. A grape-patterned arabesque used…

Architecture, Roofing Tiles
bugakuryū teien 武学流庭園

Lit. garden of the Bugaku lineage. A style of Japanese garden developed in the middle of the Edo period by Ōishi Bugaku 大石武学…

Architecture, Gardens
buke-zukuri 武家造

A style of residential architecture in use among the bushi 武士 or warrior class. As defined by the early 20th-…

Architecture, General Terms
bukku 仏供

Also jukubukku 熟仏供, butsuhan 仏飯, or butsushō 仏餉. Cooked rice made as an offering to the Buddha,…

Architecture, General Terms
bunmawashi 規 An old term for a compass used to draw circles. They were imported from Portugal. The beam compass has a large radius,… Architecture, Tools
buntōgata 分棟型 ✓

Lit. divided-ridge style. Often abbreviated to buntō 分棟 and sometimes referred to as betsumune-zukuri…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
burō 廡廊

A corridor that enclosed an open area or surrounded a space in which buildings were erected. A term from the 7th-9th century…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
bussharitō 仏舎利塔

Also called *sharitō 舎利塔. A reliquary in a stupa or pagoda. These could be…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
busshōya 仏餉屋 ✓

Also called gokusho 御供所. A Buddhist building used to prepare ritual food offerings called busshō 仏餉, *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
busshudana 仏守棚 Lit. Buddha protecting shelf. A type of decorative shelf with sliding-door cabinets on the bottom and an ogee-shaped… Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings
butaigamachi 舞台框

Lit. stage framework. A framing member that runs the entire width of the upper part of a *…

Architecture, General Terms
butaikabe 舞台壁

Lit. proscenium wall. The wall at the front part of a *kabuki 歌舞伎 stage.

Architecture, General Terms
butsudan 仏壇 ✓

An altar or tabernacle in the form of a podium, table, recess, or cabinet used in the sanctuaries of temples and in private…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
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
butsudō 仏堂

Also called *butsuden 仏殿; bukkaku 仏閣, *…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
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
buzai 部材

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

Architecture, General Terms
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
wachigaigawara 輪違瓦 ✓

Also tsumegawara 爪瓦. A row of narrow tile pieces cut crosswise from semi-cylindrical tiles *…

Architecture, Roofing Tiles
wajō 倭城

A Japanese castle. Refers to 25 castles constructed in various regions of Korea by the Japanese forces during the Bunroku-…

Architecture, Castles
wakaba 若葉 ✓

1 An abstract decorative pattern of extended curved lines based on the form of a leaf. The pattern is…

Architecture, Decorations
wakiagari 脇上 ✓

The wakiagari allowed visitors to enter or leave the residence from a waiting palanquin kago 駕篭 without…

Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings
wakidana 脇棚 ✓

Shelves forming part of an arrangement in the space next to the decorative alcove *…

Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings
wakido 脇戸 ✓

A small door, usually beside the main door of a structure. Sometimes there is one on each side of the main door.

Architecture, General Terms
wakiganna 脇鉋

A plane used to smooth the sides of a groove, particularly in a doorsill or lintel, after the base plane, *…

Architecture, Tools
wakigegyo 脇懸魚

Lit. "side gable pendant." Also *kudarigegyo 降懸魚, *…

Architecture, Decorations
wakihonjin 脇本陣

A secondary *honjin 本陣, authorized by the Tokugawa 徳川 government for the…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
wakijin 脇陣

Side sanctuary. Areas beside the main hall *hondō 本堂 of a Buddhist…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
wakikoguchi 脇虎口

A side entrance to a castle. A small, inconspicuous entrance located on the side of a castle, in contrast with the main gate…

Architecture, Castles
wakikokabe 脇小壁

A long, narrow, vertical wall constructed between two or more pillars, or on each side of an entrance or a window.

Architecture, General Terms
wakimon 脇門

Also read *ekimon 掖門. A side gate or a small gate on one or both sides of a…

Architecture, Gates
wakishōji 脇障子

Wooden screens placed at the back ends of side verandas *en 縁. They…

Architecture, General Terms
wakizura 脇面

The left and right sides of a purlin *keta 桁.

Architecture, General Terms
waku 枠

A frame constructed around the perimeter of a window or doorway; the opening into which sliding panels and other structural…

Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings
wakugi 和釘

Also called nihon kugi 日本釘. A square nail used during and after the Kofun period. The nail was made of hand-wrought…

Architecture, General Terms
wakuhijiki 枠肘木

Two bracket arms *hijiki 肘木 positioned at right angle to one…

Architecture, General Terms
wanagi hozo 輪薙ほぞ

A tenon referred to as channeled or as fingered. It is used on king posts *shinzuka…

Architecture, Joints
wanagikomi 輪薙込

Wanagikomi is an angle joint, also called an open mortise and tenon joint, a slip slot or finger mortise. It…

Architecture, Joints
warabite 蕨手 ✓

Also warabide. A style of ornamentation which features a curved design based on curling bracken shoots. It is found…

Architecture, Decorations
waranawa 藁縄

1 Rope made by twisting together strands of straw. In clay statuary, the central wooden core *…

Art History, General Terms, Architecture, Sculpture
waraza 藁座 ✓

1 Also called enza, maruza 円座, or ukeza kanamono 受座金物. The metal or…

Architecture, General Terms
waridakebari 割竹張

To cover or enclose with split bamboo. For example, found on the doors of a simple garden gate teimon 庭門 with a…

Architecture, General Terms
wariguri-ishi 割栗石

Also called wariguri 割栗, kuri-ishi 栗石 or guri ぐり (lit. "stones crushed like chestnuts"). Rock…

Architecture, General Terms
warihada 割肌

The surface of a member that was split vertically by pounding in a wedge *kusabi…

Architecture, Joints
warihaiden 割拝殿 ✓

Lit. "divided worship hall." A long structure under a single roof divided in the center by a passageway *…

Architecture, Shrines
warikebiki 割毛引

Lit. "splitting gauge." The splitting gauge is used to mark thin pieces of wood along the grain so that it can be broken…

Architecture, Tools
warikusabi 割楔

1 An extremely strong joint that uses a blind wedge-split tenon warikusabi hozo 割楔ほぞ to join two…

Architecture, Joints
warima 割間

The interval between the vertical slats *tateko 竪子 and horizontal…

Architecture, Gardens
wata-ita 綿板

Also called *ireko-ita 入子板. A board that connects the rails and crosspieces…

Architecture, General Terms
watabana 綿花

Also written 綿鼻. A molding *kurigata 繰形 in the shape of a silk-…

Architecture, Decorations
watari yagura 渡櫓 ✓

1 A connecting gallery or tower inside a square compound *masugata…

Architecture, Castles
watariago 渡腮

Also called *agokaki 腮欠, agokake 腮掛. A cogged right-angled joint…

Architecture, Joints
wayō 和様

1 Lit. "Japanese style architecture." The architectural techniques and styles introduced from China during…

Architecture, General Terms, Art History
wayō hijiki 和様肘木 ✓

A bracket arm *hijiki 肘木 that is characterized by curved surfaces on the…

Architecture, General Terms
wayō kōran 和様高欄 ✓

A railing in the wayō style *wayō 和様. The horizontal…

Architecture, General Terms

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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