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…

A plank door filled with widely set, horizontal laths, kozan 小桟.

Also abarawari あばら割. Lit. "sparsely proportioned." The same meaning as ma-mabara 間疎 (sparse or scanty).…

1　Posts or pillars of the same or smaller diameter than the main pillars of a building.

2…

Translucent sliding screens *shōji 障子, opaque screens *…

A visor that projected from the front of a soidier's helmet *kabuto 冑. First…

A pictorial subject taken from "Maboroshi" ("The Wizard"), Chapter 41 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Painters born during the period extending from the Nanbokuchō through the Muromachi periods, when major social changes took…

Lit. "waiting stone." One of the seven trump stones *nanatsu-ishi 七つ石 in…

Also pronounced chō.

1　The raised paths that divided and defined sunken paddies in ancient…

Also machiaishitsu 待合室.

1　A waiting and resting shelter. Typically a rustic structure…

A general term for the Kano school *Kano-ha 狩野派, or for Kano-…

Also pronounced chōnami.

1　Streetscape in an urban area. The linear space defined by the…

1　Also written 町屋. One of the two main categories of vernacular house *minka…

Window. Many other characters for window used have been used since the 6th century. For example: 窗 and 牒, 向 and 間戸 or 間門.…

A window sill. The horizontal part at the bottom of a window frame in a wooden building. The sill is supported by the base…

The window frame into which a window sash is installed. The timber that surrounds a window.

Lit. "window decoration." A thin decoration that is hung around the outer border of a window, over the curtain, to provide…

The non-penetrating tie beams used for the frame of a window opening. One, called madoshita nageshi 窓下長押, is placed…

A floor plan. The arrangement of rooms in a dwelling, including access points, windows, hallways, verandas, toilets, and…

Posts placed on each side of a window. In the case of thatched tea ceremony houses *…

A window frame into which a window sash or casing is set. The frame consists of two vertical side pieces, tatewaku…

1　Also called kazari-ishi 飾石, tōage-ishi 灯あげ石, tōtomoshi-ishi 灯ともし石. A flat…

The front gable of a gable roof that flows directly away from the ridge and extends further than the rear gable. The long…

A large ripsaw with a blade about 60 cm long and 40 cm wide. It was first introduced in the 15th century and was used until…

Standard purpose carpenters' ripsaw. A ripsaw with a blade approximately 35-40 cm long and 12 cm wide. The blade narrows…

Also omaedachi 御前立. Lit. "standing in front." A Buddhist sculpture, positioned on the altar in front of the shrine…

Abbreviation of maedatemono 前立物. Also tatemono 立物. An upstanding decoration found on the front of a…

A transverse timber positioned at the base of the latticework *kitsune gōshi…

Also bafumi, hirami 褶. The flat top of an earthen embankment *doi…

Also written 摩崖仏. Ch: moyafo. Also known as magai sekibutsu 磨崖石仏 or 摩崖石仏. A Buddhist image carved into the…

Latticework or a grille *kōshi 格子 positioned between the hard-packed earthen…

Lit. "a true carpenter's square." A right angle or a 90 degree angle. A structural element that corresponds to a right angle…

Also pronounced magamibashira. Also called *yugamibashira 歪柱.…

Also written 曲屋. A farmhouse, nōka 農家, with a room that housed stables *umaya…

A general term for farmhouses with an L-shaped plan *magariya 曲り屋

1　Also written 勾玉. A bead with religious significance, introduced to Japan from the Korean peninsula. It is…

Round chip box. Also called wagemono 綰物 (bent round object) or himono 檜物 (cypress object). A…

Lit. "section breaks." A technique used to build a castle wall. Separate sections of the castle wall *…

Also 孫庇; matabisashi 又庇, 又廂. Lit. "grandchild aisle." A narrow additional aisle. Traditional buildings, especially…

A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a young woman. The gracefully curved mouth…

A small section within a translucent sliding screen *shōji 障子 that can be opened…

Also called kozuka 小束. A very short strut or post used in a roof truss. Magozuka are the shortest struts…

1　The length of the front facade of a building or frontage of a plot of land from corner to corner. …

Lit. "deep black stones." A generic name for black stones found in the Nachi 那智 area of Wakayama prefecture and the Kamo 鴨…

Lintel, header or head jamb. Also magosa まごさ. A lintel without grooves or tracks, placed horizontally at the top of…

Also read maiden. Also kaguradono, kaguraden 神楽殿 or kagura 神楽. Lit. "dance hall."…

Dancing old man. A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing an old god or…

A wooden sliding door constructed of a single wooden panel *wata-ita…

Thin, parallel strips of wood about 2-3 cm wide and 1.8 cm thick affixed to the front and back of a door *…

A partition. The partitioning or dividing of an interior or an individual room into separate spaces, allowing for tremendous…

Lit. "sprinkled picture." A technique which originated in the Heian period for lacquer ware decoration in which designs are…

Pillars that are decorated with ornamental bands. The bands may be made of metal, painted with lacquer or covered with…

A pictorial subject based on "The Cypress Pillar" Makibashira, Chapter 31 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (…

U-strap. A コ-shaped metal fitting used to secure wooden joints.

Small, square, or slightly rectangular bearing blocks placed on a bracket arm *hijiki…

Ch: Magu. Two female Taoist immortals. The first is said to have lived in the Han dynasty and was sister of the immortal…