Transverse roof beams that span the distance from the center posts of a vernacular house with a thatched roof to the *…

Cutting decorative patterns with an adze *chōna 釿 on chestnut wood …

Also written 釿初, 手斧初. Also called kozukuri hajime 木造り始め or onohajime 斧始め. A carpenter's ceremony performed…

Also called chōnahatsuri 釿斫. A decorative pattern carved into the visible surface of a timber using an adze *…

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

Lit. Korean type mountain castle. A general term for castle structures in Japan that resemble those in ancient Korea.…

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…

Lit. hyper-naturalism. The idea of basing a garden, or a single element in it, on nature, but exaggerating the natural…

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. hand-washing stone. One of the seven trump stones *nanatsu-ishi 七つ石…

Lit. hand water bowl. A water basin used to rinse the hands or as a decorative element in gardens. Usually made of stone,…

Also written 手水屋. Also called suibansha 水盤舎 or temizuya 手水舎. Shrine or temple building for cleaning hands…

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…

The central, circular part of a round, eave-end, pendant tile *gatō 瓦当…

The middle base of a lantern *tōrō 灯籠 upon which rests the flame holder and…

Middle area. In upper class residences especially from the Momoyama period and through the Edo period, seating was…

The space *ai-no-ma 相の間 between the sanctuary *…

Lit. central hall. A hall situated between two Buddhist halls or a hall with corridors attached on either side. The most…

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

A term used in shrine architecture: a middle area between the *honden 本殿, *…

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…

Lit. middle golden hall. An image hall *kondō 金堂 located at the center of…

1　Middle gate. The second or inner gate on the north-south axis of a temple compound in the ancient period…

A type of vernacular house *minka 民家, characterized by one or more wings or…

1　A Heian-period corridor intersected by gates. In the most elaborate Heian-period shinden style…

A term for a loft or attic occupying the roof space of a vernacular house *minka…

Lit. medieval architecture. Temple and shrine buildings erected during the Kamakura, Nanbokuchō, and Muromachi periods when…

A smoothing plane, used to further smooth the surface of timber after the general roughing plane *…

Also tenjō chūshinkazari 天井中心飾. Lit. center flower.

1　A group of decorative patterns in…

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

Lit. center stone(s). A single stone or stone arrangement *ishigumi 石組,…

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…

A synonym for the large bearing block *daito 大斗 placed on the tops of pillars…

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

The base material was heated…

Lit. "inner horse exit." A defensive installation *umadashi 馬出 constructed to fortify the…

1　The inner moat of a castle that has two or more moats.

2　The moat dug on the…

A strike-through chisel. Normally, when constructing a pass-through mortise, the timber is carved away from both sides with…

A subordinate entry in houses possessing a formal guest entry *genkan 玄関, and…

Also written 内隈. Lit. "interior shading." A technique *kumadori 隈取 in non-…

Also written 内曇. Also called kumogami 雲紙. Abbreviation of uchigumorigami 打曇紙. A type of decorated paper,…

A technique used to hollow out the interior of a wooden statue. The hollow produced is also called uchiguri.…

Also read naikaku. Also called naijō 内城. An inner compound. Generally, it refers to the central…

Also pronounced uttegaeshi 打って返し, utasegaeshi 打たせ返し. Perfect symmetry on both sides of a center line…

An unbelted woman's outer garment worn over the *kosode 小袖 on formal occasions…

Lit. "pounded and inserted stone joinery." The most common stone work technique used to build a dry construction castle wall…

Pillars *hashira 柱 with an inward incline. Uchikorobi…

Rafters *taruki 垂木 that extend from the flying rafter support *…

Lit. "inner square box." A type of walled compound *masugata 桝形…

1　The inside measurement between the inner sides of two posts or pillars *…

A penetrating tie beam *nuki 貫 placed directly on top of a door or…

Also called uchinorimono 内法物. The wooden materials used for the framework of a sliding screen *…

Inner tea garden. The part of the double tea garden nijū roji 二重露地, between the middle gate *…

A type of loophole *sama 狭間. An opening in a wall for soldiers to…

Lit. "fan painting." A painting either directly on a fan *uchiwa 団扇, or on a round format…

Also read dansen. A round or oval fan made of paper or silk pasted over a framework of thin strips of bamboo.…

1　A wide post at the interface between the earth-floored space *doma…

Also written 卯建, 宇立, うだつ; all read udachi, odatsu, or odachi.

1　A term…

1　A rudimentary thatched dwelling hut or ancillary structure with a gable roof *…

1　A relatively short horizontal timber that functions like a brace. It is attached to and extends outward…

Also called *kidomon 木戸門. A simple gate with two main posts…

Lit. "planting." A technique used to make wooden statues, where the hair and beard are made separately, and then attached to…

An open site, generally in Okinawa, devoid of any kind of structure, from where the gods are worshipped. Most sites are…

Lit. "nightingale floor." Floor boards which rub together when walked on to produce a pleasant and delicate sound. This type…

Lit. "bush warbler fence." A common type of rustic sleeve fence *sodegaki…

An abbreviation of Kongō sekishō zenshin uhō dōji 金剛赤精善神雨宝童子. A manifestation of the Buddha *…

A modern city in the southern part of Kyoto where the Byōdōin 平等院 (1052) is located. Historically, Uji was a resort for the…

A visual motif in the *yamato-e やまと絵 tradition, depicting the…

Lit. "Battles of the Uji 宇治 River." Two dramatic and decisive battles that took place near the Uji bridge, over the river,…

A small-sized preliminary sketch undertaken by an artist expressly at the request of a patron. These sketches may be…

Also written 有気絵. Woodblock prints or paintings *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 produced for an individual…

Also written 請花, 受華, 請華; sometimes pronounced ukehana. Flower-shaped support. A support in the shape of an open,…

Also *chūdai 中台. Middle base.

A generic term for all supporting or receiving structural members. For example, a timber that receives an eave cornice is…

The indentation in the middle of the base *kiso 基礎 of a lantern…

Lit. "floating picture." Usually a woodblock print, in which the three-dimensionality of a scene is emphasized by using one…

Formerly known as hanshutsuzō 半出像. A relief, or a method used to carve a relief on a flat surface. Halfway…

A pictorial subject taken from "Ukifune" ("A Boat upon the Waters"), Chapter 51 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

Lit. "pictures of the floating world." Paintings and woodblock prints of genre themes developed from the mid-Edo to early…

Currents of Thought on Ukiyo-e, a series of biographies of *ukiyo-e …

Lit. "books of the floating world." Printed books containing illustrated prose stories which developed from the Kamigata…

Marigold, saffron yellow. A bright yellow dye taken from the root stalk of the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa).…

A main castle gate *koguchi 虎口 with a small barrier or compound…

A castle entrance barrier. A small barrier or compound, built in front of a castle gate *…

Paintings of horses on pairs of folding screen *byōbu 屏風. Beginning in the Heian…

A standing screen *tsuitate shōji 衝立障子 decorated with horses that was…

A stable. Also written 厩. Also maya 馬屋 or 厩, keiya けいや, and kyūsha 厩舎. Applied to both a…

Also keima-zu 繋馬図. Paintings of horses tethered in a stable. Although the subject is found in a 13th-century…

A gable pendant *gegyo 懸魚 with an irregular hexagonal shape. The…

A pictorial subject based on "Umegae" ("A Branch of Plum"), Chapter 32 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Also read umeki. A wooden dowel or plug used to fill a hole in a piece of timber. If a knot or some other flaw…

To fill in any remaining open spaces with sand, gravel, soil, or other such substances, after the foundation and all…

Lit. "sea stone." A generic name for stones found in the ocean or along the seashore. Because sea stones contain salt, and…

A type of lantern. These six-sided lanterns are the same as the kasuga type, but they were carved by a stonemason…

Also written 暈繝. Also *ungen zaishiki 繧繝彩色, lit. "rainbow coloring." A…

Also written 暈繝彩色. A method of coloring used in painting as well as for decorative motifs in crafts and architecture. Also…