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

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 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 *…

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…

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…

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

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

Lit. "whose sleeves?" Painting theme depicting beautiful kimono 着物 draped across a wooden rack, ikō …

Ch: Taigongwang. A Chinese scholar who was thought to be a paragon of humble virtue and learned accomplishment, and who…

Red ochre. A red pigment whose main component is ferric oxide (haematite), Fe203. Used in Japanese style painting *…

Fading. A lessening of the intensity of a color by exposure to sunlight or air. Chemically unstable dyes or pigments undergo…

A type of folding screen *byōbu 屏風 used in the Imperial Palace…

A pictorial subject depicting the sport of falconry, birds trained to hunt cranes tsuru 鶴, pheasants kiji…

Now a modern city on the Inland Sea (southwest of Osaka in Hyōgo Prefecture), most famous as the sea-coast setting for the…

A pictorial subject taken from "Takekawa" ("Bamboo River"), Chapter 44 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

A long-sheet size of *hōsho 奉書 paper. Approximately 53 x 72 cm. The largest…

Pictures on kites. It is thought that kite flying became popular in Japan in the 18th century, and the early designs for…

Also written 託磨派 and 宅間派. One of the schools of *ebusshi 絵仏師, priest-painters…

A pictorial subject taken from "Tamakazura" ("The Jeweled Chaplet"), Chapter 22 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

A yellowish-red pigment *ganryō 顔料 used in Oriental painting …

A painting where the original ink lines show through after light pigment is added. The 11th-century Senzui byōbu …

Ch: Danxia shaofo. A painting subject which captures the Chan 禅 (Jp: Zen) parable of the monk Danxia (Jp: Tanka 丹霞…

A tool used in woodblock printmaking *ukiyo-e 浮世絵. A piece of wood, a flat…

Lit. "red and green books." Also called edoribon ゑどり本 or 絵取本 (colored books) during the Edo period. Early Edo…

An abbreviation of tansaiga 淡彩画 (light-colored painting).
Lit. "lightly colored." Very often ink paintings…

"Collection of Young Trees of Painting"; one-volume biography of Japanese painters by Kano Ikkei 狩野一渓 (1599-1662). Compiled…

Small vertical poem cards, approximately 36 cm long x 6 cm wide that may be decorated with colored designs, sprinkled with…

Lit. "poem-slip" *tanzaku 短冊 format. A size of *…

Any long, rectangular-shaped object which is similar in size to a long, rectangular poem card called *…

A painting technique in which pale black ink *sumi 墨 or a color (…

Also called *hishigōshi 菱格子. A design motif of crossed…

A hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物 that is vertically oriented; in…

Also read tatewaki or written 立枠. A design motif made of vertical, tate 立, curvilinear lines which bulge…

1　An abbreviation of tatōgami, or tatamigami. Also known as…

Also written 龍田川 or 立田川. The lower reaches of a tributary of the Yamato 大和 River in Nara. Long famous for its maple leaves,…

A painting shop *eya 絵屋 or atelier founded by Sōtatsu 宗達 (?-1640?), who is thought…

Ch: Zheng Siyuan. A Chinese sage depicted riding a tiger and accompanied by a tiger cub who carries his books. The tiger…

Lit. "paintings of Teika's poems of the flowers and birds of the twelve months." According to his diary Meigetsuki …

Ch: dijiantu. The genre of paintings of advice and admonition *kankai-zu…

Ch: dingtou shuweimiao. Lit. "nail head-rattail drawing." A brush stroke technique used to create the clothing of…

A pictorial subject based on "Tenarai" ("At Writing Practice"), Chapter 53 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale…

The upper part of a piece of paper is referred to as the "heaven" or ten 天, and the lower part as the "earth"or…

Lit. "celestial dog." A bird-like goblin frequently encountered in Japanese folk-beliefs, literature and their pictorial…

Also written 天具帖, 天宮上, 天久常. Fine Japanese paper made from high quality fibers (see *…

Paintings on a ceiling. The coffered ceilings *gōtenjō 格天井 of…

Also tenkei jinbutsu 点景人物. Small-sized human figures and animals added as secondary elements to a landscape…

Ch: tiexianmiao. Lit. "iron-wire line drawing." A technique used to render the thin, even lines commonly seen in…

Ch: Tao Yuanming (365-427). The Jin dynasty poet and quintessential Chinese scholar-recluse. A virtual prototype for the…

Ch: Du Fu (712-770). A Chinese poet, considered to be one of China's greatest. An innovator of both poetic style and subject…

A caricature picture *giga 戯画 which was popular in the…

Ch: Dongfang Shuo (ca. 154-93 BCE). A Chinese Daoist immortal of the Western Jin associated with the peaches of immortality…

Ch: taoyuantu. Paintings depicting the Chinese story Peach Blossom Spring (Ch: Taohuayuanji, Jp…

Tōhaku's Explanation of Painting, comments of the Momoyama period painter Hasegawa Tōhaku 長谷川等伯 (1539-1610) on well…

Also read Dōhō kosei. Lit. "Dongfeng's tiger voice." A Zen 禅 dialogue in which a tiger is a metaphor for spiritual…

Ch: Tuhui baojian. Precious Mirror of Painting, a late Yuan dynasty history of Chinese painting by Xia…

Also sometimes read Zue sōi. Ch: Tuhui zongyi. Principles of Painting. Chinese painting manual…

Lit. "Eastern Sea [coast] Road, fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō 東海道," which is the road and rest places that linked…

Lit. "everlasting summer." A pictorial subject taken from "Tokonatsu" ("Wild Carnations"), Chapter 26 of Genji…

Ch: Deshan. The Chinese priest Deshan Xuanjian (Jp: Tokuzan Senkan 徳山宣鑑, 780-865) who helped preserve Chan 禅 (Jp: Zen) after…

1　Also tomoe 巴. A pattern of one or more curled tadpole shapes inside a circle. The pattern is…

Also kusashiō 草雌黄, abbreviated to *shiō 雌黄. Gamboge.…

Lit. "Torii school." A family of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists which became a…

Also written 鳥子紙. Sometimes abbreviated to torinoko. An eggshell colored, handmade paper *…

A school of painting, active from the early 15th century until the late 19th, that specialized in courtly subjects painted…

A type of Chinese paper imported and used in Japan for painting and calligraphy and as backing paper urazuke 裏付 for…

Pictures of the archery competition held on the 33-bay-long (394 ft) veranda of Sanjūsangendō 三十三間堂 (Rengeōin 蓮華王院) in…

Prints originally designed in the first half of the 19th century by provincial artists and distributed by itinerant peddlers…

Lit. "giant ground spider." A demon in popular literature and art known for its battle with the early 11th-century warrior…

An *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 woodblock printing technique used in cases where…

A method of paper decoration *ryōshi sōshoku 料紙装飾. Two or more…

A general term for hanging scrolls *kakemono 掛物 that make a…

A woodblock-printed fortune with pictures which was sold on street corners *tsuji …

A type of *mokkotsu 没骨 technique. Tsuketate does not…

Pictures depicting activities associated with the months of the year, representing one of the most important categories of…

Also written つくり絵. A painting process associated with the *yamato-e …

Lit. "narrow road of ivy." Pictorial subject matter taken from Episode 9, *Azuma…

A shiny black colorant made by mixing thick carbon ink *sumi 墨 with rice paste…

Also written 続画. A set of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints with a continuous composition in…