Also takushu 磔手 and chōshu 張手 (Sk: vitasti). A unit of measure that originated in India, used in the…

Lit. the hot water for tea. Also known as sadō 茶道 or chadō. The ritual art of preparing and drinking…

Father old man. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a cheerful old man. The powder…

The path purifier, mask worn by the first actor in a procession of ancient theatrical performances gigaku 伎楽.…

Plovers or (rarely) sanderlings: small birds that live in flocks near water, a popular design motif either alone or combined…

The Buddhist acolyte form of the name *Kūkai 空海 (774-835; see *…

Lit. knowledge-fist mudra. A mudra or hand gesture *in 印 formed by…

Also referred to as the First mandala. A small wooden painting. The oldest of the Three Jōdo Mandalas *…

Ch: Zhulin Qixian. Lit. Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. A pictorial theme based on seven Chinese literati who, to…

A yellow-brown paper made in China from bamboo fibers. Commonly known in Japan as *tōshi…

Also enjiraku or enchiraku 円地楽. A piece in imperial court dancing *…

Also called chinkinbori 沈金彫. A technique developed in aizunuri 会津塗 that involves cutting a design into a…

Also chinzō chōkoku, see *chinsō 頂相. Portrait sculptures of…

Also chinzō. Lit. head's appearance. A naturalistic portrait, sculpted or painted, of a Zen 禅 master's head.

A multi-colored print which was rolled around a bar and then rubbed to give it crinkles and creases as if it had been…

Ch: Zhang Guolao. Also called Tongxuan (Jp: Tsūgen 通玄). One of the Daoist, eight immortals *…

Ch: Zhang Liang・Huang Shigong. Heroic Chinese warriors of the Han dynasty. 

Zhang Liang (BC 168-137), originally…

Lit. pictures of horse training. One theme of genre painting *fūzokuga 風俗画…

Also read nagaban. Also called naga-e 長絵. Lit. long format. A size of *…

Eyes carved directly into the surface of a wooden sculpture. This method was in general use until the late Heian period when…

Also written 丁字. A deep yellow, dull orange, or tan colored aromatic dye senryō 染料 made from the flowers or…

1　A hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物 that is vertically oriented…

Also kinjūza 禽獣座 and jūza 獣座. A pedestal or throne for a Buddhist image in the form of a bird or a…

Ch: Niaoke. Lit. bird's nest. A painting subject depicting the Tang dynasty eccentric priest Dōrin 道林 (Ch: Daolin), also…

A bird's-eye view. Also fukan zuhō 俯瞰図法 (view from above). One type of perspective popular in Japanese…

Also pronounced chōketsui. A garment with long sleeves. Seen, for example, on images of *…

Chasing. Carving patterns or letters with a chisel on metal work. A common technique is nanako-uchi 魚々子打 (fish-roe…

Ch: diexingtu. Lit. Picture of the Butterfly of Happiness, or Picture of the Butterfly and the Emperor's Visit. A…

A painting and calligraphy technique where the brush is held perpendicular to the paper so that just the tip is used to…

Also kairen 開蓮. A lotus flower found on the head of a *Fudō Myōō …

Also read kōzogami and kajigami 梶紙. Formerly called kokushi 穀紙 during the Heian period. Paper…

Carved lacquer. A generic term used for many carved lacquer techniques where layers of lacquer are applied to a thickness of…

Ch: Zhutou. A painting subject depicting the Northern Song dynasty eccentric priest Zhimeng (J: Shimō 志蒙). He was known…

Ch: chaoyang duiyue. A Zen painting subject depicting a priest sewing in the morning sun (Jp: chōyō …

Lit. medium-size format. A size of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print. The term chūban…

A part of the mounting of a hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物. The chūberi…

Lit. a middle-size book. A woodblock printed book, popular during the Edo period, which is one-half the size of a …

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 supposedly intended to represent the 9th-century poet and…

Metal casting. A technique used in metalwork to produce vessels or sculptures by melting down metal and pouring it into a…

A pictorial subject matter taken from The Treasury of Loyal Retainers Chūshingura, an epic and well-loved story of…

Also chūdai-no-son 中台の尊. The principal statue in a group of Buddhist statues. The central image in a triad or group…

Also imono 鋳物. Casting. A technique used to make cast sculptural forms. 

The base material was heated…

1　Painting contest; a contest involving two teams, popular among Heian aristocrats from the 11th century.…

An *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print commonly used as writing paper. A sheet of *…

Lit. Illustrated Scripture of Cause and Effect. Also known as Kako genzai ingakyō emaki 過去現在因果経絵巻. 

The pictures on signs or billboards displayed in front of *kabuki 歌舞伎 puppet…

1　Also ebi-iro 蒲萄色 or 葡萄色. A reddish -purple dye use in the Asuka and Nara periods, and the name…

Also ebigatakote 海老形篭手. A shrimp-shaped gauntlet *kote 篭手. Armor worn to…

Lit. the Plum Quiver. A pictorial subject taken from an incident during the Genpei 源平 war. Before going to battle the…

Also written 夷, 戎, or 蛭子.

1　One of the seven gods of good fortune *…

Woodblock engravers who specialized in carving blocks for *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 or other…

Painters who specialized in Buddhist religious painting. The term was widely used from the late Heian period when the demand…

Handmade paper *washi 和紙 produced in Echizen 越前 (now Fukui Prefecture), probably…

Lit. painting model. A prototype, or more commonly, a modelbook produced by a master painter for his students or for people…

Pictorial 'e 絵', biographies 'den 伝' of important persons, most frequently Buddhist patriarchs and holy…

Also *azuma nishiki-e 東錦絵.
A general term applied to all…

Less commonly, *Tokugawa jidai 徳川時代. The Edo period, the time in which…

The Edo period Edo branch of the Kano school of painting *Kano-ha 狩野派. The…

Also written 画所. An atelier producing paintings and painted decoration for the court and nobility, located at the palace…

Lit. painting brush. Any of numerous categories of paint brushes made in Japan of various natural materials and used to…

1　A generic term for paper used for painting. In general, strong paper with a minimal tendency to blur,…

Silk used for painting. Plain, non-glossy raw silk was favored. Called huajuan (Jp; *…

The name of a courtesan from the Eguchi 江口 area of northern Settsu 摂津 (now Osaka) immortalized in the biography of…

Also called shibai ezōshi 芝居絵双紙 or shibai ehon 芝居絵本. Illustrated woodblock printed programs for *…

Lit. picture book.

1　In the broad sense of the term, the Edo period ehon referred to any…

Books of poetry, haikai 俳諧, with pictures, published during the Edo period. 

One of the oldest examples…

Woodblock printed books published during the Edo period, from the Kan'ei 寛永 to the Kyōhō 享保 eras (1624-1736).

…

Also known as *kyōgenbon 狂言本. Woodblock printed illustrated booklets,…

Illustrated Edo period woodblock printed books containing humorous poems known as kyōka 狂歌. 

Early…

Also ei 影, *shin-ei 真影, *miei…

Ch: Huike duanbi. Lit. Eka cutting (his) elbow. 

A painting subject based on the legend of Eka…

1　The textual part of an illustrated handscroll *emaki 絵巻. The…

Lit. horse painting. Illustrated wooden plaques given as votive offerings to shrines and temples. 

It is believed…

Also called emakimono 絵巻物, or less commonly *ekotoba 絵詞. 

…

Folds in a garment, or the pattern made by these folds. 

In Buddhist statues, the style of drapery folds changed…

Also known as En no Ozunu 役小角 (also read En no Shōkaku) and En no Ubasoku 役優婆塞.

A semi-…

A Buddhist sculpture school *bussho 仏所, active in Kyoto from the 11th century…

An imaginary type of gold which, according to Buddhist scriptures, was the most precious of metals. It was said to be found…

A deep red color, sometimes with a hint of purple. Dyes senryō 染料 and paints *…

Ch: Yanxi fangdai. Also known as Ō Shiyū hōtai 王子猷訪戴 and Setsuya hōtai 雪夜訪戴. Lit. A…

A round nimbus. A round halo on a Buddhist statue, attached to the back of the head. Enkei kōhai are further…

Perspective. In Western art perspective derived from 15th-century developments in science, and the problem of representing 3…

Ch: Yuanhou zhuoyue. A painting subject of the Buddhist parable that features a monkey (Jp: enkō 猿猴)…

A type of round nimbus *kōhai 光背 or halo, found on a Buddhist image. The…

Also Enraō 閻羅王; Sk: Yamaraja. The name whereby *Enmaten 焔魔天 is more commonly known…

A variety of mandala *mandara 曼荼羅, centered on *…

Also written 閻摩天, 焔摩天, 炎摩天. Enma is a transliteration of Sk: Yama, which in Indian mythology is the name of the…

Lit. Lengthened life Kaja. A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a cheerful young…

Paint. Usually refers to an insoluble pigment *ganryō 顔料 or soluble dye…

Also hakuen 白鉛, oshiroi 白粉, hafuni 白粉. White lead. A toxic white powder of basic lead carbonate (…

Also written 焔髪. Upstanding hair in the shape of flames. This accompanies an expression of anger *…

Also ensō kōhai 円相光背. A large circular halo *kōhai 光背 found on…

A portrait which is drawn in a circular background.

Red lead. A crimson red pigment *ganryō 顔料 produced from lead oxide Pb O…

Also written 画師. Also read ekaki. A painter or decorator, often a master painter. A term used especially to refer…

A written or spoken explanation of *shaji engi-e 社寺縁起絵 (historical scenes…

A shop which produced and sold painting. Distinguished from fan shops ōgiya 扇屋 and screen shops shōjiya…

The paintings of the Ainu アイヌ of Hokkaidō 北海道 and Sakhalin サハリン, focusing on their everyday activities and yearly…

Also written 絵双紙. An illustrated booklet published during the Edo period. These were short publications written in kana…