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 *…

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…

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

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…

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…

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. 

…

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…

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)…

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 (…

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…

A pictorial subject taken from Arrowhead, the play from the *kabuki…

A pictorial subject taken from "Yadorigi" ("The Ivy"), Chapter 49 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji…

Lit. "burned brush." A wooden stick with a burned tip. Like charcoal used in western style painting, yakifude is…

A type of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print which shows one or several actors in a stage pose or…

Lit. "picture books illustrating actors." Books that bound together actor prints, but also included theater and stage scenes…

Printed books criticizing actors' skills. Theater reviews were not published in booklet form until 1656 with Yakusha-no-…

Ch: Yaoshan Li'ao. A Zen 禅 painting subject depicting the philosophical debate between the Tang dynasty hermit-priest…

Ch: Yaoshan she chenzhongchen; lit. "Yakusan's Shooting of the Great King of the Big Deers." A Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan)…

Lit. "mountain indigo." Perennial plant 30-40 cm high, Mercurialis leiocarpa Sieb. et zuc., used to make a blue dye…

Also written 楊梅樹. A brown vegetable dye senryō 染料 obtained from the evergreen tree Myrica rubra,…

Also written 大和絵 and 倭絵. A widely used description term which has carried various nuances in different periods, but…

The most commonly used style of mounting hanging scrolls *kakemono 掛物 in…

Also musubitoji 結び綴じ, lit. "knot-binding." The simplest style of book-binding, and usually a type of pouch-binding…

Also read Yamanba. Oni-onna 鬼女 (demonic woman) or yama-onna 山女 (mountain woman) are used occasionally.…

Also written 夜叉付子. A brown vegetable dye senryō 染料 made from the alder tree (Alnus firma), which…

A pictorial subject depicting scenes from the Battle at Yashima, an important engagement in the Genpei Battles Genpei…

1　Lit. "eight bridges." A type of low bridge built over a shallow pond or marsh using wooden planks without…

Western-influenced paintings and prints produced in Japan before the Meiji period, including *…

Western-style painting produced during the Meiji period. Yōga employed the use of western materials such as oil…

A blank, unpainted space. It is considered one of the identifying characteristics of both Chinese and Japanese painting.…

Also bakemono-e 化物絵 and yūrei-e 幽霊絵. *Ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints that depict…

Ch: Yang Guifei (719-56). The famous Chinese beauty and concubine of Emperor Xuanzong (Jp: *…

Carmine, a crimson pigment. An alkaline organometallic compound, taken from the female cochineal insect which lives on…

A pictorial subject based on "The Flute," Yokobue, Chapter 37 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Also Yokohama 横浜 *ukiyo-e 浮世絵. Late ukiyo-e prints which depicted foreigners at the port…

Lit. "reading books." An Edo period woodblock printed novel prevalent from the mid to late Edo period that focused on…

A pictorial subject based on "The Wormwood Patch" Yomogiu, Chapter 15 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

Also yomaiori byōbu 四枚折屏風. A folding screen with four panels. Before the 12th or 13th century, this type of screen…

An area in Mt. Ōmine 大峰, Nara, most famous for cherry blossoms. Important not only as a place of great scenic beauty, but…

The tragic warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune 源義経 (1159-89), whose many exploits both real and legendary are recounted in…

The licensed pleasure and prostitution quarter of Edo. First established in 1617 near Nihonbashi 日本橋 by Shōji Jin'emon…

A pictorial subject in *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 taken from the popular *…

A pictorial subject taken from "Evening Faces" Yūgao, Chapter 4 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

A pictorial subject taken from the "Evening Mist" Yuugiri, Chapter 39 of Genji monogarari 源氏物語 (The…

*ukiyo-e 浮世絵 beauty prints *bijinga 美人画…

An Edo period "Who's Who" of prostitutes in the pleasure districts. The yūjo hyōbanki was one of two major…

Organic pigment. An insoluble paint material *ganryō 顔料 made from animal…

A pictorial subject taken from "The Floating Bridge of Dreams" Yume no ukihashi, Chapter 54 of Genji monogatari…

Lit. "Crescent Moon;" loaded or pulled bow (shaped) moon. A pictorial subject in *ukiyo-e…

Lit. "drifting bow." A pictorial subject depicting an incident at the Battle at Yashima *…

A low class of prostitutes during the Genna 元和 and Kan'ei 寛永 eras (1615-44). Typically, after meeting customers by washing…

Lit. "depictions of amusements." A major category of genre painting *fūzokuga…

Traditional design motifs, used either in single units or repeated to create patterns, based on designs from Heian courtly…

The History and Benefits of the Yūzū Nenbutsu engi. A handscroll theme recounting the early history of the Yūzū…