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JAANUS

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  • Architecture (231)
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  • Art History (109)
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  • Crafts (5)
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  • Document (7)
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  • Gardens (21)
  • Gates (7)
  • General Terms (64)
  • Iconography (8)
  • Joints (8)
  • Lanterns (1)
  • Painting (67)
  • Roofing Tiles (6)
  • Sculpture (26)
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  • Structures (8)
  • Tea Houses (38)
  • Tools (5)

Displaying 101 - 200 of 337
Title Contains Image(s) Description Keywords
chōnabari 釿梁 ✓

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

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
chōnaguri 釿栗

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

Architecture, General Terms
chōnahajime 釿始

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…

Architecture, General Terms
chōnamekezuri 釿目削 ✓

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

Architecture, General Terms
chōren 頂蓮

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

Art History, Sculpture
chōsenshiki yamajiro 朝鮮式山城

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

Architecture, Castles
choshi 楮紙

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

Art History, Painting
chōshitsu 彫漆

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

Art History, Crafts
chōshizenshugi 超自然主義

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

Architecture, Gardens
Chotō 猪頭

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

Art History, Painting
chōyō・taigetsu 朝陽・対月 ✓

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

Art History, Painting
chōzu-ishi 手水石

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

Architecture, Tea Houses
chōzubachi 手水鉢

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

Architecture, Gardens
chōzuya 手水舎

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

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
chūban 中判

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

Art History, Painting
chūberi 中縁

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

Art History, Painting
chūbō 中房

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

Architecture, Roofing Tiles
chūdai 中台

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

Architecture, Gardens
chūdan 中段

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

Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings
chūden 中殿

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

Architecture, Shrines
chūdō 中堂

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

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
chūhon 中本

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

Art History, Painting
chūjin 中陣

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

Architecture, Shrines
chūjō 中将

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

Art History, Sculpture
chūkin 鋳金

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

Art History, Sculpture
chūkondō 中金堂

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

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
chūmon 中門

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

Architecture, Gates
chūmon-zukuri 中門造り

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

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
chūmonrō 中門廊

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

Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings
chūnikai 中二階 ✓

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

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
chūsei kenchiku 中世建築

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

Architecture, General Terms
chūshikō ganna 中仕工鉋

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

Architecture, Tools
chūshin kazari 中心飾

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

1 A group of decorative patterns in…

Architecture, Decorations
Chūshingura 忠臣蔵

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

Art History, Painting
chūshinseki 中心石

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

Architecture, Gardens
chūson 中尊

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…

Art History, Sculpture
chūtō 柱頭

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

Architecture, General Terms
chūzō 鋳造

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

The base material was heated…

Art History, Sculpture
Ya-no-ne 矢の根

A pictorial subject taken from Arrowhead, the play from the *kabuki…

Art History, Painting
Yadorigi 宿木 ✓

A pictorial subject taken from "Yadorigi" ("The Ivy"), Chapter 49 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji…

Art History, Painting, Document
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
yakan 野干

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a small Chinese fox. Its thin-lipped, slightly…

Art History, Sculpture
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.

1 A structure that combines the daily living quarters of a mansion with the…

Architecture, Castles
yakifude 焼筆

Lit. "burned brush." A wooden stick with a burned tip. Like charcoal used in western style painting, yakifude is…

Art History, Painting
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
yakuko 薬壷

A medicine jar, found on the palm of the left hand in figures of *Yakushi 薬師, the…

Art History, Sculpture
yakusha-e 役者絵

A type of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print which shows one or several actors in a stage pose or…

Art History, Painting
yakusha ehon 役者絵本

Lit. "picture books illustrating actors." Books that bound together actor prints, but also included theater and stage scenes…

Art History, Painting
yakusha hyōbanki 役者評判記

Printed books criticizing actors' skills. Theater reviews were not published in booklet form until 1656 with Yakusha-no-…

Art History, Painting, Document
Yakushi keka 薬師悔過

Keka 悔過 is a term used in Buddhism meaning repentance of one's sins, and refers to the chanting of prayers to…

Art History, Sculpture
Yakushi 薬師

The name of the Buddha associated with healing. Sino-Japanese rendering of Sanskrit Bhaisajyaguru, meaning "Medicine Master…

Art History, Iconography
yakushidō 薬師堂 ✓

A Buddhist temple hall housing a statue of *Yakushi 薬師 (Sk: Bhaisajyaguru), the Buddha…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Yakuzan Rikō 薬山・李翱

Ch: Yaoshan Li'ao. A Zen 禅 painting subject depicting the philosophical debate between the Tang dynasty hermit-priest…

Art History, Painting
Yakuzan shuchū no shu wo iru 薬山射麈中麈

Ch: Yaoshan she chenzhongchen; lit. "Yakusan's Shooting of the Great King of the Big Deers." A Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan)…

Art History, Painting
yama-ai 山藍

Lit. "mountain indigo." Perennial plant 30-40 cm high, Mercurialis leiocarpa Sieb. et zuc., used to make a blue dye…

Art History, Painting
yama-ishi 山石

Lit. "mountain stone." A generic name for stones found or quarried in the mountains. Unlike sea stones *…

Architecture, Gardens
Yamagoe no Amida 山越阿弥陀

Also read Yamagoshi no Amida; Amida yamagoe (yamagoshi) raigō 阿弥陀山越来迎. Lit. "Amida…

Art History, Iconography
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
yamamomo 山桃

Also written 楊梅樹. A brown vegetable dye senryō 染料 obtained from the evergreen tree Myrica rubra,…

Art History, Painting
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
yamato-e やまと絵

Also written 大和絵 and 倭絵. A widely used description term which has carried various nuances in different periods, but…

Art History, Painting
yamato hyōgu 大和表具

The most commonly used style of mounting hanging scrolls *kakemono 掛物 in…

Art History, Painting
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
yamatotoji 大和綴 ✓

Also musubitoji 結び綴じ, lit. "knot-binding." The simplest style of book-binding, and usually a type of pouch-binding…

Art History, Painting
Yamauba 山姥

Also read Yamanba. Oni-onna 鬼女 (demonic woman) or yama-onna 山女 (mountain woman) are used occasionally.…

Art History, Painting, Sculpture
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

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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