Entasis. The bulge in the center of a circular pillar to make it appear straight. In Japan, circular pillars called *…

1　Lit. earthen bridge. An earthen bridge, which is made by leaving an unexcavated section of moat in front…

Also read tsuchibei. Also called *tsuiji 築地. An earthen wall or…

The movable face plate. The most elaborate gimmick used on the bugaku mask, *…

Lit. body carving. The carver of woodblocks for *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints who was…

A title of artistic or cultural advisors in the Ashikaga 足利 shogunate, established about the time of Yosimitsu 義満 (1358-1408…

1a.) Furring strips made of thin wood or bamboo that are nailed horizontally to posts to form the base for…

A sill, ground sill, or footplate. Generally the heavy timber members laid horizontally at the base of a wooden building…

Also called tsuchidomesan. Narrow timber strips nailed horizontally to roof sheathing, *…

A man's hip-length jacket, generally worn over other clothing or armor by high-ranking samurai 侍 from the late…

Rotating eyes, a gimmick used for many bugaku masks, *bugakumen 舞楽面…

Lit. implement mat. The straw mat, *tatami 畳, on which the host sits when he…

Also dorui 土塁. An earthen embankment, earthwork, or rampart. A defensive embankment surrounding a castle or a…

1　Generally a base for tile roofing, *kawarabuki 瓦葺. A…

The foundation bed, shiki 敷, of an earthen embankment, *doi 土居. It has…

The process of spreading clay on the prepared surface of a roof in order to lay roof tiles, *…

Lit. child, young boy.

1　A boy between 8 and 20 years old living in a Buddhist temple. He studies…

A variety of *besson mandara 別尊曼荼羅 (a form of mandara centered…

The decorated 'belts' around the upper, middle, and lower circumference of the stem, sao 竿, of a lantern.

Lit. guardian boy's stones. Two symbolic garden stones (see *yakuishi 役石）…

A temple of the Tendai 天台 sect in Hidaka 日高, Wakayama Prefecture. The setting of a dramatic old Japanese tale first recorded…

Also called hikidokko 引独鈷; hikidokko ari 引独鈷蟻. One type of *…

Also written 洞戸, 道幸, 道古, 堂庫、or 道籠. A storage space for utensils used for the tea ceremony. The earliest type was probably a…

Lit. independent donjon or keep. Also called dokuritsushiki tenshu 独立式天守, dokuritsu tenshukaku 独立天守閣. A…

Independent post. An internal freestanding post, *hashira 柱, not attached to…

Lit. Daoist-style gardens. A general term designating gardens which incorporated Chinese Daoist ideas or motifs. The Daoist…

1　Alternatively called *niwa 庭 or dōji どうじ. An area…

Decorative drapery used on statues in the Kamakura region from the late Kamakura period. The drapery was made in clay relief…

Also written 純子. Patterned damask weave. A thick and glossy silk variety of shusu 繻子 (satin), with the design made…

Any painting produced with a type of thick, opaque paint made from inexpensive pigment and the white pigment, *…

A technique where a mixture of animal glue, *nikawa 膠, and powdered burnt clay…

Also 礬沙, 陶砂. Sizing. Dōsa is made by dissolving animal glue, *nikawa 膠…

Also written dōzuri 胴摺. The widest horizontal stile in the door of *heijūmon…

Lit. Daoist Buddhist paintings. A genre of painting on Daoist (Taoist; Jp: Dōkyō 道教) and Buddhist (shaku 釈 from *…

Also Sae-no-kami 塞の神 (also read Sai-no-kami), Dōrokujin 道陸神, and other less common names. A folk deity associated with roads…

1　The flat top of an embankment, *doi 土居, also called *…

Also called tsuchi-no-tō 土の塔 or dantō 段塔. Lit. earthen pagoda. Dantō means stepped pagoda. A…

Also read dodome-ita, and called *seki-ita 堰板. The sheathing boards…

Lit. saw with attached spine. A tenon or back saw. A saw designed especially to cut the shoulder of a tenon. The blade is…

1　A type of floor found in vernacular houses, *minka 民家, used…

A large, heavy horizontal timber attached to the tops of posts, *hashira 柱,…

Bronze work. Bronze casting has been very important in Japan since ancient times, and was used for Yayoi period dōtaku…

A form of storehouse which provided a fireproof place to keep valuables which were otherwise always at risk in highly…

Also referred to as *kura-zukuri 蔵造. A fireproof building construction…

Lit. snake belly board. The boards lined up under the thick eave ends nokizuke 軒付 of a cypress bark *…

Lit. snake's belly.

1　A cornice. Called nokijabara 軒蛇腹, at the eaves of a building and …

Also called honshirin 本支輪 (main shirin). A short, curved, non-supporting transitional member that connects…

Lit. snake belly ceiling. An open or exposed ceiling composed of curved, parallel rafters, thought to resemble a snake's…

Lit. snake skin. The boards lined up under the thick eave ends nokizuke 軒付 of a cypress bark *…

Sk: yaksa. Evil spirits believed to harm human beings and hinder Buddhist teaching. Usually appear in sculptures as small…

Gravel, small stones, or pebbles. A corrupted form of sazare 細 meaning tiny stones. Jari have been given…

Also hikkōbori 筆耕彫. The engravers or block-carvers of written text woodblocks for printed books. From…

The traditional method of laying or setting tiles on the sheathing *noji 野地 of…

A small cabinet with sliding doors at the bottom of open, often split-level shelves *…

Also called *butsuma 仏間.

1　Small, private buildings or…

Also called chinjisai 鎮地祭; jisai 地祭, jiiwai 地祝, tsuchimatsuri 土祭 or tokoshizume no…

Also called omodaruki 母垂木. A base rafter that extends outward from the roof framework, generally the eave purlin *…

A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a sprite who possesses the elixir of long life…

Commonly known as Jie Daishi 慈恵大師 or Great Master Jie. The posthumous name of Ryōgen 良源 (912-85), abbot at…

Also read chien hikaku. Double eaves *futanoki 二軒, composed of base…

1　A sleeper. The lowermost horizontal beam that spans the width of a bay *…

Also written 地幅石. A long horizontal base stone, sometimes called a sleeper, or a continuous plinth course. It is placed at…

A famous courtesan of Sakai 堺 known for her relationship with the Daitokuji 大徳寺 priest *…

Lit. hell tenon. So named because once it is inserted, it is impossible to withdraw. A blind tenon joint with wedges *…

A picture based on a word pun, popular around the mid-18th century. Most were drawn by town painters *…

Also 地形 chikei. The preliminary foundation work on a building. Materials for this include: rubble *…

Also read jikaro.

1　A hearth *ro 炉 excavated in…

Also bosatsusō 菩薩相. The expression of compassion found on Buddhist images. The opposite is *…

Also called saidō 斎堂. A refectory. An independent building on temple grounds where priests and monks had their…

A lidded food container, usually layered and lacquered with decorations of sunken gold *…

Lit. Picture of the ten realms. In Buddhism the ten realms jikkai 十界 refer to the ten realms of being, which are…

Also kanshi 干支 and eto えと. Ch: shigan shierzhi. Lit. ten stems and twelve branches. Referred to…

Sk: Dhrtarastra. A guardian deity with fierce expression *funnusō 忿怒相,…

1　A roller used for a hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物 or hand…

Also 軸孔; jikuzuriana 軸吊穴; jiku uke 軸受; tobira jikuana 扉軸穴. The socket into which the pivot hinge…

The framework or body of a building between the foundation and the roof structure. In traditional architecture it includes…

Also jikukugi 軸釘, kakemonokugi 掛物釘. A hook for hanging scrolls, *…

Also written 軸釣, 軸摺. Pivot hinge. A metal covered wooden-core pivot inserted into a socket *…

Also read jibutsu. Sk: lakasana. The hand-held attributes of a Buddhist image. Along with the mudra *…

A base ridge.

1　A longitudinal timber plate resting upon the principal transverse roof beams *…

Also jinaichō. A type of religious township that developed in the Sengoku period in connection mainly with temples…

Campaign jacket. A short garment worn over armor. Based on European prototypes introduced by the Portuguese at the end of…

Ch: renwu shibamiao. Lit. eighteen types of figural portrayal. A group of brush styles traditionally employed in painting to…

Also ninchū. A vertical groove between the nose and upper lip of Buddhist images. The jinchū differed…

Also called jingoji 神護寺, jingū'in 神宮院, jinganji 神願寺, miyadera 宮寺, or bettōji…

Lit. shrine architecture. The architecture associated with Shinto shrines, including all the shrine buildings, shaden…

A generic name for a Shinto shrine. Before World War Two shrines were classified into five categorize: first rank, …

Also read Jinja Daishō. Lit. General Deep-Sand. A divinity said to have appeared in a dream to the renowned Chinese…

Lit. camp fortress. A temporary fortification constructed on a battlefield or stopping-place by armies on the march, used…

Lit. God body or God style; also written 神容. A noh mask*nōmen 能面 representing a…

Also called shimonuki 下貫. A penetrating tie beam at the base of a pillar or a tie beam beneath a building's…

A base coat. The process of preparing ancient painting surfaces by completely covering the materials used, such as paper,…

An object shaped like a lotus bud and stem used in Buddhist rituals, particularly favored by the Ji 時 sect. Usually made of…

Also *ro 炉

1　A hearth constructed in an earth…

A portrait bearing a poetic inscription written by the painter.

The office or guardroom provided in each city ward *machi 町, in the city of Edo…

The Ten Greatest Ancient Sculptors of Noh masks *nōmen 能面…