Depictions of Mt. Fuji 富士 painted from the Heian period to modern times in a variety of contexts. A usually quiet (but still…

Lit. axe-cut stroke. A painting texture stroke, *shunpō 皴法, said to have been…

A pictorial subject taken from the "Wisteria Leaves" (Fuji no uraba, underleaves of wisteria), Chapter 33 of …

A pictorial subject taken from the "Purple Trousers" (Fujibakama, also translated as Mistflowers), Chapter 30 of…

Ch: Puhua. An itinerant priest of the Tang Dynasty depicted in paintings as wandering the streets of Zhenzhou 鎮州 in a state…

Lit. Landscape painting, a general term, usually applied only to works in the long western tradition of landscape by…

Also zōkin bokashi 雑巾ぼかし, rag shading. Any wiping technique used to produce gradated tones (shading) on a woodblock…

A technique to create tints by placing a cut-out pattern on paper and scraping paint through a wire mesh with a brush,…

A compositional technique used to depict a residential interior. The technique involves rendering a building without a roof…

A later-era appellation given to a group of artists from the late Edo period who consciously attempted revive the past *…

A restoration copy. A painting that is copied with the intent of restoring it to near its original state. This means…

Ch: Fuxi. A legendary Chinese sage and ruler who was the founder of Chinese civilization and first sovereign of the Five…

The woodblock-printed paper that formed the outer covers for prints and woodblock books. In the 1770s-80s it became popular…

A type of mounting for hanging scrolls, *kakemono 掛物. The *…

Also read fukurotsuzuri. Also called karatoji 唐綴 and fukurozōshi 袋草子. Lit. pouch-binding. The…

Also fuchoku 布置. Composition in Chinese painting. Included in the fifth canon, "Plan and Design, Place and Position…

1　A Tang Dynasty term for rough sketches or underdrawings made with gesso powder, *…

Lit. refined taste. An aesthetic ideal implying traditional elegance, chic stylishness, creative ingenuity, and sometimes…

Ch: Fengliuzhentu. Lit. Depictions of Elegant Battles. A Chinese painting subject included among the Pictures of…

Lit. satirical pictures. Paintings and prints satirizing current events, world affairs, government, and politics. The…

Biography of Famous Painters in Japan, a comprehensive mid-19th-century biography of painters. Supplemented and…

Primer on Master Painters of Japan, an early 18th-century biography of painters by Asai Fukyū 浅井不旧. Asai, a native…

Ch: Fengshuidong. Lit. the wind and water caves. A grotto complex near Hangzhou 杭州 which was the subject of poems by Su…

Abbreviation of fusumashōji-e 襖障子絵. Paintings on sliding-door panels, *fusuma…

A term used for one of the parts of the mounting of a hanging scroll, *kakemono…

Also shokanbukuro-e 書簡袋絵. The woodblock-printed pictures on folded paper covers which functioned as envelopes, …

Paintings with the daily activities and special pleasures of contemporary life as their subject matter. Equivalent to the…

Also hikkōbori 筆耕彫. The engravers or block-carvers of written text woodblocks for printed books. From…

A famous courtesan of Sakai 堺 known for her relationship with the Daitokuji 大徳寺 priest *…

A picture based on a word pun, popular around the mid-18th century. Most were drawn by town painters *…

Also kanshi 干支 and eto えと. Ch: shigan shierzhi. Lit. ten stems and twelve branches. Referred to…

1　A roller used for a hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物 or hand…

Ch: renwu shibamiao. Lit. eighteen types of figural portrayal. A group of brush styles traditionally employed in painting to…

A base coat. The process of preparing ancient painting surfaces by completely covering the materials used, such as paper,…

A portrait bearing a poetic inscription written by the painter.

Ch: Shizhuzhai shuhuapu. Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting, a late Ming period color woodblock-printed…

Also tsubushi 潰し. A plain background of a single color on a woodblock print *…

Also jitsugetsu zu 日月図. A pictorial subject that combines the motifs of the sun and moon in landscapes of the four…

Making carbon ink *sumi 墨 by grinding an ink stick on an inkstone…

1　A form of concertina-folded book *orihon 折本.

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Ch: Jingping tidao. Also reads jōhei tōtō. A painting subject of the Tang dynasty Zen priests Izan Reiyū い山霊祐 (Ch:…

A hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物 made of a paper called *…

Also called tenchi 天地 or jidai 地題. A part of the mounting of a hanging scroll *…

Also called *kaiga 界画. A line drawing technique where a straight edge or…

Ch: jiuniu. Lit. ten bulls. A Zen 禅 (Ch: chan) allegory in which Buddhist training, from first initiation to final…

Ch: shuxia meiren. A painting theme of a beautiful woman under a tree. The subject found throughout Asia may have…

A kind of table game played with one king and 16 round, pawn-like piece of paper on each side of a divided board. The board…