1　Painting contest; a contest involving two teams, popular among Heian aristocrats from the 11th century.…

An *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print commonly used as writing paper. A sheet of *…

Lit. Illustrated Scripture of Cause and Effect. Also known as Kako genzai ingakyō emaki 過去現在因果経絵巻. 

The pictures on signs or billboards displayed in front of *kabuki 歌舞伎 puppet…

1　Also ebi-iro 蒲萄色 or 葡萄色. A reddish -purple dye use in the Asuka and Nara periods, and the name…

Also ebigatakote 海老形篭手. A shrimp-shaped gauntlet *kote 篭手. Armor worn to…

Lit. the Plum Quiver. A pictorial subject taken from an incident during the Genpei 源平 war. Before going to battle the…

Also written 夷, 戎, or 蛭子.

1　One of the seven gods of good fortune *…

Woodblock engravers who specialized in carving blocks for *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 or other…

Painters who specialized in Buddhist religious painting. The term was widely used from the late Heian period when the demand…

Handmade paper *washi 和紙 produced in Echizen 越前 (now Fukui Prefecture), probably…

Lit. painting model. A prototype, or more commonly, a modelbook produced by a master painter for his students or for people…

Pictorial 'e 絵', biographies 'den 伝' of important persons, most frequently Buddhist patriarchs and holy…

Also *azuma nishiki-e 東錦絵.
A general term applied to all…

Less commonly, *Tokugawa jidai 徳川時代. The Edo period, the time in which…

The Edo period Edo branch of the Kano school of painting *Kano-ha 狩野派. The…

Also written 画所. An atelier producing paintings and painted decoration for the court and nobility, located at the palace…

Lit. painting brush. Any of numerous categories of paint brushes made in Japan of various natural materials and used to…

1　A generic term for paper used for painting. In general, strong paper with a minimal tendency to blur,…

Silk used for painting. Plain, non-glossy raw silk was favored. Called huajuan (Jp; *…

The name of a courtesan from the Eguchi 江口 area of northern Settsu 摂津 (now Osaka) immortalized in the biography of…

Also called shibai ezōshi 芝居絵双紙 or shibai ehon 芝居絵本. Illustrated woodblock printed programs for *…

Lit. picture book.

1　In the broad sense of the term, the Edo period ehon referred to any…

Books of poetry, haikai 俳諧, with pictures, published during the Edo period. 

One of the oldest examples…

Woodblock printed books published during the Edo period, from the Kan'ei 寛永 to the Kyōhō 享保 eras (1624-1736).

…

Also known as *kyōgenbon 狂言本. Woodblock printed illustrated booklets,…

Illustrated Edo period woodblock printed books containing humorous poems known as kyōka 狂歌. 

Early…

Also ei 影, *shin-ei 真影, *miei…

Ch: Huike duanbi. Lit. Eka cutting (his) elbow. 

A painting subject based on the legend of Eka…

1　The textual part of an illustrated handscroll *emaki 絵巻. The…

Lit. horse painting. Illustrated wooden plaques given as votive offerings to shrines and temples. 

It is believed…

Also called emakimono 絵巻物, or less commonly *ekotoba 絵詞. 

…

Folds in a garment, or the pattern made by these folds. 

In Buddhist statues, the style of drapery folds changed…

Also known as En no Ozunu 役小角 (also read En no Shōkaku) and En no Ubasoku 役優婆塞.

A semi-…

A Buddhist sculpture school *bussho 仏所, active in Kyoto from the 11th century…

An imaginary type of gold which, according to Buddhist scriptures, was the most precious of metals. It was said to be found…

A deep red color, sometimes with a hint of purple. Dyes senryō 染料 and paints *…

Ch: Yanxi fangdai. Also known as Ō Shiyū hōtai 王子猷訪戴 and Setsuya hōtai 雪夜訪戴. Lit. A…

A round nimbus. A round halo on a Buddhist statue, attached to the back of the head. Enkei kōhai are further…

Perspective. In Western art perspective derived from 15th-century developments in science, and the problem of representing 3…

Ch: Yuanhou zhuoyue. A painting subject of the Buddhist parable that features a monkey (Jp: enkō 猿猴)…

A type of round nimbus *kōhai 光背 or halo, found on a Buddhist image. The…

Also Enraō 閻羅王; Sk: Yamaraja. The name whereby *Enmaten 焔魔天 is more commonly known…

A variety of mandala *mandara 曼荼羅, centered on *…

Also written 閻摩天, 焔摩天, 炎摩天. Enma is a transliteration of Sk: Yama, which in Indian mythology is the name of the…

Lit. Lengthened life Kaja. A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a cheerful young…

Paint. Usually refers to an insoluble pigment *ganryō 顔料 or soluble dye…

Also hakuen 白鉛, oshiroi 白粉, hafuni 白粉. White lead. A toxic white powder of basic lead carbonate (…

Also written 焔髪. Upstanding hair in the shape of flames. This accompanies an expression of anger *…

Also ensō kōhai 円相光背. A large circular halo *kōhai 光背 found on…

A portrait which is drawn in a circular background.

Red lead. A crimson red pigment *ganryō 顔料 produced from lead oxide Pb O…

Also written 画師. Also read ekaki. A painter or decorator, often a master painter. A term used especially to refer…

A written or spoken explanation of *shaji engi-e 社寺縁起絵 (historical scenes…

A shop which produced and sold painting. Distinguished from fan shops ōgiya 扇屋 and screen shops shōjiya…

The paintings of the Ainu アイヌ of Hokkaidō 北海道 and Sakhalin サハリン, focusing on their everyday activities and yearly…

Also written 絵双紙. An illustrated booklet published during the Edo period. These were short publications written in kana…

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…

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 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.…

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 *…

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

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…

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…

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