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…

Also written 寂.
1　An idea of beauty particularly important in the tea ceremony and haiku 俳句…

Also sabi 錆. A paste made by mixing powdered burnt clay *tonoko 砥の粉…

When woodblocks are being carved to reproduce pages of handwritten characters, sometimes the point of a small knife will be…

Also written 茶堂口, 茶頭口; also chatateguchi 茶立口, or *katteguchi 勝手口.…

Also called kōetsubon 光悦本 or suminokurabon 角倉本, although some scholars consider each of these names to…

A pictorial subject of an area in the western part of Kyoto city, famous for autumn grasses and singing insects. Besides…

Also called shōjiki 正直. A plumb line with a plumb bob, furiko 振子, at the lower end. The plumb bob is a…

A little used placement of the firebox *ro 炉, in a tea ceremony room *…

Also sagi-no-ashi. Lit. "heron's leg." A type of long, curved leg found on a Chinese style desk, tōzukue…

Also written 佐波理. An alloy of copper containing less than ten percent tin, lead and zinc and of a pale yellowish color. It…

Lit. "narrow petal lotus motif." A motif with as many as twelve or sixteen narrow petals found on some circular pendant…

An octagonal hall at Hōryūji 法隆寺, Nara, which was destroyed by a typhoon in 1050. The structure was rebuilt in 1250. It is…

Paintings based on Saigyō monogatari 西行物語 (The Tale of Saigyō), a fictionalization of the poet-priest…

1　An area temporarily purified to erect temporary buildings and facilities for performing the *…

The name for a group of *ukiyo zōshi 浮世草子 (books of the floating world;…

Ch: suihan sanyou. Lit. "three friends of wintery seasons." A painting theme featuring pine matsu 松, plum…

Also *kandachi 神館, shinkan 神館.
1　At Ise Jingū…

Also Yoshiwara saiken 吉原細見. Annually published guide to the new *Yoshiwara…

An image hall *kondō 金堂 situated to the west of a pagoda in temple grounds.…

Miniature paintings in a detailed style best suited for fans or albums. Two other terms, mitsuga 密画 and saiga…

An eight-legged *hakkyakumon 八脚門, 3-bay wide, 1-entrance gate with a gable…

Lit. "Saimyōji 西明寺-style latticed bamboo door." One type of raised lattice door *…

Lit. "festival pictures." Paintings that originated in folk beliefs and Shinto rituals shinji 神事, mostly related to…

Lit. "Buddhist colorist." An artist who applies colored pigment to the nimbus or pedestal of a Buddhist statue. A …

The application of color to various architectural elements. In the case of paintings, this normally involves the use of…

A painted statue, usually a Buddhist image. Saishikizō are colored over the entire surface of the figure;…

A *bugaku 舞楽 dance and mask *bugakumen…

Also simply saitan 歳旦. A woodblock print commissioned by a poet, or a man of versatile tastes, to give to his…

Also misakedono 御酒殿; the prefix mi 御 is an honorific.
1　A shrine building specific to…

A pictorial subject based on "Sakaki" ("The Sacred Tree"), Chapter 10 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Also sakabashira 逆柱 or sakasabashira 逆さ柱. Lit. "upside down pillar."
1　An upside down…

Also written 盃面戸. Sometimes called goki 呉器 or gokibame 呉器羽目. The space created between small bearing…

A fence supported by posts along its rear side, usually with more than four posts per one bay. The facing boards are placed…

1　Fence. Read ki (also written 城) in the ancient period. A palisade of stakes aligned at regular…

The Sakuheimon is the center gate on the north side of Kyoto Gosho 京都御所, during the end of the Heian period. It can be seen…

Lit. "Treatise on Garden Making." The oldest and most revered Japanese text on garden design, it was probably…

Also read hasama. A loophole or porthole made in the wall of the keep, tower, or parapet to allow a castle to…

Lit. "loophole distribution." The number of loopholes per two meter (one ken 間) interval in a castle. Also refers…

Lit. "fifth month rain." A geometric pattern used for fretwork muntins. The design is inspired by early summer rain, …

Also read shamon. Lit. "sand crest." The technique of making a pattern or design in sand or gravel. The creation of…

The three types of distances desired for mountains in Chinese ink painting as defined by the famous Academy landscapist of…

The junction points on a door or window frame where the top rail *kamigamachi…

Lit. "three leaves." A decorative pattern carved into the shape of three leaves; used particularly for metal fittings found…

Sanage 猿投 kilns. A group of old kilns in an area stretching from the western area of modern Nagoya 名古屋 city to the northern…

The transverse beams placed in a row at right angle to the large header beams *kabuki…

1　A pictorial subject taken from the auspicious *kabuki 歌舞伎…

Lit. "Chatter of a Mountain Dweller." A two-volume treatise on painting theory by the late Edo artist and Confucian…

Lit. "three great Buddhas." The three largest images in the history of Buddhist statuary in Japan. Originally the …

Lit. "three-stage waterfall." One common type of garden waterfall. Through the arrangement of earth and rocks, the waterfall…

Three horizontal grooves in the neck of a Buddha *nyorai 如来 or bodhisattva *…

A simple door made of vertical planks with horizontal cross members that are about as wide as the vertical ties placed…

1　A structural element or tenon that projects out from the end of a board, post, or beam. Such projecting…

A purlin-bearing bracket arm; one that is inserted into the small bearing blocks *makito…