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 tsumegawara 爪瓦. A row of narrow tile pieces cut crosswise from semi-cylindrical tiles *…

A Japanese castle. Refers to 25 castles constructed in various regions of Korea by the Japanese forces during the Bunroku-…

1　An abstract decorative pattern of extended curved lines based on the form of a leaf. The pattern is…

Lit. "Shinto image of a young prince." A generic term covering both images of a divine son of the main enshrined Shinto…

Lit. "young lavender." A pictorial subject based on "Wakamurasaki" ("Lavender"), Chapter 5 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語…

A pictorial subject taken from "Wakana" ("New Herbs"), which is divided into two parts, making up Chapters 34 and 35 of …

Young girl. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a young woman. The mature…

Young man. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a young commoner with…

The wakiagari allowed visitors to enter or leave the residence from a waiting palanquin kago 駕篭 without…

Shelves forming part of an arrangement in the space next to the decorative alcove *…

A small door, usually beside the main door of a structure. Sometimes there is one on each side of the main door.

A plane used to smooth the sides of a groove, particularly in a doorsill or lintel, after the base plane, *…

Lit. "side gable pendant." Also *kudarigegyo 降懸魚, *…

A secondary *honjin 本陣, authorized by the Tokugawa 徳川 government for the…

Side sanctuary. Areas beside the main hall *hondō 本堂 of a Buddhist…

A side entrance to a castle. A small, inconspicuous entrance located on the side of a castle, in contrast with the main gate…

A long, narrow, vertical wall constructed between two or more pillars, or on each side of an entrance or a window.

Also read *ekimon 掖門. A side gate or a small gate on one or both sides of a…

Wooden screens placed at the back ends of side verandas *en 縁. They…

The left and right sides of a purlin *keta 桁.

A frame constructed around the perimeter of a window or doorway; the opening into which sliding panels and other structural…

Also called nihon kugi 日本釘. A square nail used during and after the Kofun period. The nail was made of hand-wrought…

Two bracket arms *hijiki 肘木 positioned at right angle to one…

Japanese style mirrors. Wakyō were developed as part of toilet sets in the Heian period. Previously large and…

Lit. "Japanese things." A term used in *chanoyu 茶湯 in…

A tenon referred to as channeled or as fingered. It is used on king posts *shinzuka…

Wanagikomi is an angle joint, also called an open mortise and tenon joint, a slip slot or finger mortise. It…

A wristlet. A decorative ring *kansen 鐶釧 found on the wrists of…

Short for warabidegata suihotsu 蕨手形垂髪. Strands of hair *suihotsu…

Also warabimon 蕨文. A design pattern which represents the bracken fern in spring when it gives out curling shoots.…

Also warabide. A style of ornamentation which features a curved design based on curling bracken shoots. It is found…

Stiff brushes made of beaten straw. Warafude were popular with the *Kano-ha…

Lit. "laughing old man." A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a…

1　Rope made by twisting together strands of straw. In clay statuary, the central wooden core *…

1　Also called enza, maruza 円座, or ukeza kanamono 受座金物. The metal or…

To cover or enclose with split bamboo. For example, found on the doors of a simple garden gate teimon 庭門 with a…

Also called wariguri 割栗, kuri-ishi 栗石 or guri ぐり (lit. "stones crushed like chestnuts"). Rock…

The surface of a member that was split vertically by pounding in a wedge *kusabi…

A sculpture technique used to carve a large hollow space *uchiguri…

Lit. "divided worship hall." A long structure under a single roof divided in the center by a passageway *…

Lit. "splitting gauge." The splitting gauge is used to mark thin pieces of wood along the grain so that it can be broken…

A wood statue technique used to join the head and body at the neck. The head and body of a Buddha statue are carved from a…

1　An extremely strong joint that uses a blind wedge-split tenon warikusabi hozo 割楔ほぞ to join two…

The interval between the vertical slats *tateko 竪子 and horizontal…

Handmade Japanese paper made from long natural fibers. Most commonly used fibers include mulberry kōzo 楮 (see *…

Eagle-nosed fierce old man. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面, representing a…

Also called *ireko-ita 入子板. A board that connects the rails and crosspieces…

Also written 綿鼻. A molding *kurigata 繰形 in the shape of a silk-…

1　A connecting gallery or tower inside a square compound *masugata…

Also called *agokaki 腮欠, agokake 腮掛. A cogged right-angled joint…

1　Lit. "Japanese style architecture." The architectural techniques and styles introduced from China during…

A bracket arm *hijiki 肘木 that is characterized by curved surfaces on the…

A railing in the wayō style *wayō 和様. The horizontal…