| 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. |
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. |
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. |
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 | 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. |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| yaegaki 八重垣 | Lit. "eightfold fence." A type of double-screen sleeve fence *sodegaki 袖垣 in… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| yagenbori 薬研堀 | A widely used moat with sides that slope like an earthen embankment. The name is derived from the moat having a bottom with… |
Architecture, Castles | |
| yagura kemudashi 櫓煙出 | ✓ | Also written 櫓烟出. Also read yagura kemuridashi. An opening constructed in a thatched roof to allow the escape of… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| yagura 櫓 | ✓ | A guard tower set atop the corners of a castle's stone wall and other strategic positions overlooking the surrounding area.… |
Architecture, Castles |
| yaguramon 櫓門 | ✓ | Also called a watari yaguramon 渡櫓門 or just *watari yagura 渡櫓. A… |
Architecture, Gates |
| yaguramono 櫓物 | The largest sized roof tile used to connect the turret corridors *watari yagura… |
Architecture, Roofing Tiles | |
| yaguranuki 櫓貫 | Commonly double-penetrating, diagonally placed beams that connect the main post *… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| yakata tenjō 屋形天井 | 1 A ceiling with the same pitch as the roof. Really, an exposed ceiling *… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| yakatajiro 館城 | Also written 屋形城. |
Architecture, Castles | |
| yakimono-no-tō 焼物の塔 | A bisque ware or unglazed pagoda. Plain, unglazed small pagodas are called deitō 泥塔, meaning mud pagodas.… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| yaku-ishi 役石 | ✓ | Also kaname-ishi 要石. Rocks and stones which in a tea garden *roji 露地… |
Architecture, Tea Houses |
| yakuba 役場 | 1 The parts of a stone wall such as exterior corners, top surfaces, or openings for drainage where… |
Architecture, General Terms, Folk Dwellings | |
| yakuboku 役木 | Also read yakugi. The allocation of shrubbery in a garden, particularly applied to trees which set the mood of a… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| yakueda 役枝 | Lit. "roles of branches." The branches of a flower or tree that are given a name based on their "role" in the structure of… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| yakugawara 役瓦 | A generic term for all types of roof tiles which serve a special purpose. These tiles include: sleeve tiles *… |
Architecture, Roofing Tiles | |
| yakuimon 薬医門 | ✓ | A gate with a gable roof constructed with two square or rectangular main posts and two square or circular secondary posts *… |
Architecture, Gates |
| yakushidō 薬師堂 | ✓ | A Buddhist temple hall housing a statue of *Yakushi 薬師 (Sk: Bhaisajyaguru), the Buddha… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures |
| yama-ishi 山石 | Lit. "mountain stone." A generic name for stones found or quarried in the mountains. Unlike sea stones *… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| yamajiro-no-koguchi 山城の虎口 | A mountain castle entrance. The entrance *koguchi 虎口 of a mountain… |
Architecture, Castles | |
| yamajiro 山城 | ✓ | Lit. "mountain castle." A castle built on a mountain to take advantage of the mountain's topography. One of the three main… |
Architecture, Castles |
| yamame uchikomizumi 山目打込積み | Lit. "mountain eye pounding and inserting piling." A dry construction method used to pile stones for a stone wall *… |
Architecture, Castles | |
| yamamichi katō 山道火灯 | A window used especially in the Zen style *zenshūyō 禅宗様; a type of ogival… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| yamato 大和 | ✓ | 1 An abbreviation for yamatouchi-no-to 大和打の戸 or yamatouchi 大和打. A door that has vertical… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| yamato-e shiki teien 大和絵式庭園 | Lit. "gardens in the style of Japanese painting." Also called sakuteikiryū 作庭記流 (gardens in the lineage of the… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| yamatobei 大和塀 | ✓ | A fence made of widths of bleached bamboo spaced about 45 cm apart and held in place by bark. This type of fence is used in… |
Architecture, Gardens |
| yamatobuki 大和葺 | ✓ | 1 A type of board roofing made by first spacing boards of equal width at predetermined intervals and then… |
Architecture, General Terms, Tea Houses |
| yamatokaki 大和掻 | A type of bamboo lattice entwined with wisteria vine set in a window opening *… |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| yamatomune 大和棟 | An alternative term for a roof style found on Edo period farmhouses nōka 農家, called *… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings | |
| yanagidana 柳棚 | Lit. "willow shelf." An asymmetrical arrangement of three decorative shelves tokowakidana 床脇棚 arranged in the… |
Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings | |
| yanagikugi 柳釘 | Also yanagikakekugi 柳掛け釘. A nail hammered into a partially plastered post yanagibashira 柳柱 (see *… |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| yanakadake 屋中竹 | Also yamadake 屋間竹. The bamboo purlins, about 20-30 cm in circumference, that are placed about 30-36 cm apart over a… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings | |
| yane-ita 屋根板 | A generic name for various types of roofing boards including *noji-ita… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| yane kōzō 屋根構造 | ✓ | The construction of the roof framework or roof truss over the body of a building. The essential framing for a gable roof *… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| yane 屋根 | ✓ | Also called okugai 屋蓋, lit. "roof covering." A generic term for various types of roofs, roof styles, and roofing.… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| yanebuki 屋根葺 | Roofing or roof covering. The most commonly used types of roofing are clay tiles *… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| yanegae 屋根替 | Rethatching, retiling, or reshingling a roof whereby old roofing is replaced with new roofing. |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| yanekugi 屋根釘 | Also kobanekugi 小羽根釘. Small round bamboo roofing nails, with a diameter between 2.1 to 2.8 mm and a length from 50… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| yaneura 屋根裏 | 1 See *keshō yaneura 化粧屋根裏. 2 An… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| yaraiko 矢来子 | The framing members of a fence. They may be vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or arranged to form squares or lozenges. A variety… | Architecture, General Terms | |
| yareigeta 破井桁 | ✓ | Lit. "broken well crib." Also yabureigeta. A design used for muntins *kumiko… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| yariganna 槍鉋 | A plane thought to have been the only plane employed in ancient times to pare and finish timber. Today carpenters do not use… |
Architecture, Tools | |
| yarimizu 遣水 | ✓ | Lit. "water course." An archaic term for a shallow, curving garden stream. The term, found in the 11th-century garden manual… |
Architecture, Gardens |
| yarisama 鑓狭間 | A loophole for thrusting pikes and spears. Typically, they are installed in narrow locations beside main castle entrances… |
Architecture, Castles | |
| yasaka-zukuri 八坂造 | Also *yasaka-zukuri 祇園造. A style of shrine architecture which began in the… |
Architecture, Shrines | |
| Yashamon 夜叉門 | ✓ | An eight-legged gate *hakkyakumon 八脚門 (1653) located at Rinnōji Taiyūin… |
Architecture, Gates |
| yashikijiro 屋敷城 | A small castle or fortification built like a a country house or mansion yashiki 屋敷. In the middle ages, it usually… |
Architecture, Castles | |
| yashikimon 屋敷門 | ✓ | 1 The front gate of a warrior's manor house. 2 A gate, now called Kyū tōjin… |
Architecture, Gates |
| yashiro 社 | 1 A Shinto shrine. 2 In very ancient times before permanent buildings were erected… |
Architecture, Shrines | |
| yasuri 鑢 | U-shaped metal pieces nailed to a gate, allowing it to be locked with a sliding timber gate-bar *… |
Architecture, Tools | |
| yatoi-ari 雇蟻 | A right-angled joint with a dovetail spline tenon *hozo ほぞ that resembles a… |
Architecture, Joints |
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