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  • (-) General Terms (155)
  • Architecture (148)
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Displaying 1 - 100 of 155
Title Contains Image(s) Description Keywords
fuebashira 笛柱

Lit. flute post. The thick post at the right rear corner of a noh stage, *…

Architecture, General Terms
Fujiwara jidai 藤原時代

Fujiwara period. A period of approximately two hundred years corresponding to the Middle Heian period (Heian chūki…

Art History, General Terms
fukioroshi 葺下

Also written 葺卸. The extension of a roof or the elongation of eaves on the main part of a building in order to cover an…

Architecture, General Terms
fukitsuchi 吹土

The layer of clay spread on sheathing, *shitaji 下地, sometimes called …

Architecture, General Terms
fukiyose 吹寄

1 The arrangement of muntins, lattice (*fukiyose gōshi…

Art History, General Terms, Sculpture, Architecture
fukiyose daruki 吹寄垂木 ✓

The grouping of two or three parallel rafters placed closely together with a wide space between each group. The spaces…

Architecture, General Terms
fukiyose gōshi 吹寄格子 ✓

Lit. grouped or varying numbered lattice. Lattice or small beams arranged to form patterns in transoms, *…

Architecture, General Terms
fukiyosebashira 吹寄柱 Evenly spaced pillars or posts that are arranged so that two or more are in line. The amount of the space between the… Architecture, General Terms
fukubachi 伏鉢

Also written 覆鉢; also called fukuhatsu ふくはつ. The small inverted bowl-like fixture placed on the box-like cover, *…

Architecture, General Terms
fukumi 含 ✓

A channel. The part of a bearing block, *masu 斗, that is cut out either as a one-…

Architecture, General Terms
fumisagari 踏下

The distance from the ridge of a roof, *munagi 棟木, to the eave end, *…

Architecture, General Terms
fumizura 踏面

Also called fumi-ita 踏板. The horizontal surface, known as the tread, on steps or stairs. The board, plank, or…

Architecture, General Terms
funahijiki 舟肘木 ✓

A boat-shaped bracket arm placed directly on top of a pillar to carry a purlin, *gagyō…

Architecture, General Terms
funazoko tenjō 舟底天井

Also called *yakata tenjō 屋形天井, an upside-down houseboat-shaped ceiling. A…

Architecture, General Terms
furesumi 振隅

Refers to the pitch of a roof that is different on the front and back from the pitch of the sides. The hip rafters at the…

Architecture, General Terms
furesumigi 振隅木

A hip rafter, *sumigi 隅木, which cannot bisect the purlins, *…

Architecture, General Terms
furiwake 振分

The center line of a surface that has been divided equally. The line may run vertically or horizontally. This center point…

Architecture, General Terms
furoku 不陸 Lit. not horizontal. A surface which is not flat or horizontal to the ground. Architecture, General Terms
fuse-zu 伏図

A framing plan showing the structural arrangement and details of various parts of a building including the floor, ceiling,…

Architecture, General Terms
fushin 普請

Originally, the solicitation of great numbers of people to help construct Zen temple buildings. By the 14th century, …

Architecture, General Terms
fushinchō 普請帳 ✓

The ledger or account books in which material and labor costs incurred during a construction project were recorded. …

Architecture, General Terms
fushoku 腐蝕

Wood rot. Wood rot can be either dry rot, kanshoku 乾蝕, or wet rot, shisshoku 湿蝕. Wet rot is particularly…

Architecture, General Terms
fusuma 襖 ✓

An abbreviation for fusumashōji 襖障子, an opaque sliding screen, as distinguished from the translucent screen, *…

Architecture, General Terms
futakoshi yane 二腰屋根

A roof that has two different inclines between the ridge and eave ends. It changes its direction of flow without any…

Architecture, General Terms
futanoki 二軒 ✓

A double row of rafters, called base rafters and flying rafters, that appears beneath the eaves of a roof. The base rafters…

Architecture, General Terms
futate hijiki 二手肘木 A bracket arm that forms the second outward step of a two-stepped bracket complex. Architecture, General Terms
futatesakigumi 二手先組 ✓

Also called futatesaki tokyō 二手先斗きょう or futatesaki kumimono 二手先組物. A bracket complex composed of two steps…

Architecture, General Terms
futatsudo tokyō 二(双)斗斗(きょう)

Also written 双斗斗きょう and pronounced the same way, or these characters can be read narabido tokyō or sōdo tokyō…

Architecture, General Terms
mabara mairado 疎舞良戸

A plank door filled with widely set, horizontal laths, kozan 小桟.

Architecture, General Terms
mabarawari 疎割

Also abarawari あばら割. Lit. "sparsely proportioned." The same meaning as ma-mabara 間疎 (sparse or scanty).…

Architecture, General Terms
mabashira 間柱

1 Posts or pillars of the same or smaller diameter than the main pillars of a building.

2…

Architecture, General Terms
mabiro 間広

Translucent sliding screens *shōji 障子, opaque screens *…

Architecture, General Terms
machi 町

Also pronounced chō.

1 The raised paths that divided and defined sunken paddies in ancient…

Architecture, General Terms
mado 窓

Window. Many other characters for window used have been used since the 6th century. For example: 窗 and 牒, 向 and 間戸 or 間門.…

Architecture, General Terms
madodai 窓台 ✓

A window sill. The horizontal part at the bottom of a window frame in a wooden building. The sill is supported by the base…

Architecture, General Terms
madogamachi 窓框

The window frame into which a window sash is installed. The timber that surrounds a window.

Architecture, General Terms
madonageshi 窓長押

The non-penetrating tie beams used for the frame of a window opening. One, called madoshita nageshi 窓下長押, is placed…

Architecture, General Terms
madori 間取

A floor plan. The arrangement of rooms in a dwelling, including access points, windows, hallways, verandas, toilets, and…

Architecture, General Terms
madowakibashira 窓脇柱

Posts placed on each side of a window. In the case of thatched tea ceremony houses *…

Architecture, General Terms
madowaku 窓枠 ✓

A window frame into which a window sash or casing is set. The frame consists of two vertical side pieces, tatewaku…

Architecture, General Terms
mae-nagare 前流

The front gable of a gable roof that flows directly away from the ridge and extends further than the rear gable. The long…

Architecture, General Terms
maezutsumi 前包 ✓

A transverse timber positioned at the base of the latticework *kitsune gōshi…

Architecture, General Terms
magaki 籬

Latticework or a grille *kōshi 格子 positioned between the hard-packed earthen…

Architecture, General Terms
magane 真矩

Lit. "a true carpenter's square." A right angle or a 90 degree angle. A structural element that corresponds to a right angle…

Architecture, General Terms
magobisashi 孫廂

Also 孫庇; matabisashi 又庇, 又廂. Lit. "grandchild aisle." A narrow additional aisle. Traditional buildings, especially…

Architecture, General Terms
magoshōji 孫障子 ✓

A small section within a translucent sliding screen *shōji 障子 that can be opened…

Architecture, General Terms
magozuka 孫束 ✓

Also called kozuka 小束. A very short strut or post used in a roof truss. Magozuka are the shortest struts…

Architecture, General Terms
maguchi 間口

1 The length of the front facade of a building or frontage of a plot of land from corner to corner. …

Architecture, General Terms
magusa まぐさ ✓

Lintel, header or head jamb. Also magosa まごさ. A lintel without grooves or tracks, placed horizontally at the top of…

Architecture, General Terms
mairado 舞良戸 ✓

A wooden sliding door constructed of a single wooden panel *wata-ita…

Architecture, General Terms
mairako 舞良子 ✓

Thin, parallel strips of wood about 2-3 cm wide and 1.8 cm thick affixed to the front and back of a door *…

Architecture, General Terms
majikiri 間仕切

A partition. The partitioning or dividing of an interior or an individual room into separate spaces, allowing for tremendous…

Architecture, General Terms
makibashira 巻柱

Pillars that are decorated with ornamental bands. The bands may be made of metal, painted with lacquer or covered with…

Architecture, General Terms
makito 巻斗 ✓

Small, square, or slightly rectangular bearing blocks placed on a bracket arm *hijiki…

Architecture, General Terms
makura 枕

1 A wedge-shaped piece of wood used to join structural members.

2 Short members…

Architecture, General Terms
makurasabaki 枕捌 ✓

Also called makurabasami 枕挟 or makurabakama 枕袴. The non-penetrating tie beams *…

Architecture, General Terms
manakado 間中戸

Lit. "a half door." Also called hantobira 半扉 or hando 半戸, both meaning a half door. A low door, about one…

Architecture, General Terms
maneki-zukuri 招造

A style of gable roof, manekiyane 招屋根, in which one side is a standard normal length from ridge to eave ends and…

Architecture, General Terms
manekihafu 招破風

An arrangement of bargeboards *hafu 破風 on a gable roof *…

Architecture, General Terms
manekihijiki 招肘木

Also called *nehijiki 根肘木. Bracket arms used to support the shorter side…

Architecture, General Terms
manekimune 招棟

A descending corner ridge that connects the main ridge with a lower main ridge. This corner ridge, also known as …

Architecture, General Terms
manekinoki 招軒

The shorter eave on the rear section of a gable roof. The shrine style *nagare-…

Architecture, General Terms
manekiudegi 招腕木

Braces that extend outward from the central posts to support the eave end *manekinoki …

Architecture, General Terms
mangetsudana 満月棚

Lit. "full moon shelf." A type of shelving *chigaidana 違い棚,…

Architecture, General Terms
manjikuzushi kumiko 万字崩組子 ✓

Mullions *kumiko 組子 in a decorative pattern of connected,…

Architecture, General Terms
manjūgata 饅頭形

Lit. "a bean-jam dumpling shape." Also called hanjukei 半珠形. A half-spherical shape.

1…

Architecture, General Terms
marubashira 丸柱

Also called enchū 円柱.

1 A circular pillar or post. In the early periods (7th-13th…

Architecture, General Terms
marumado 円窓 ✓

Also written 丸窓, also called yoshinomado 吉野窓. A window which is circular or a circular window with a flat…

Architecture, General Terms
marumen 丸面 ✓

Also written 円面. A type of chamfer with rounded edges or corners, for example, on an otherwise square post. To produce this…

Architecture, General Terms
maruta 丸太

A log or pole. Some scholars believe that this term replaced maruhada 丸肌 (log skin). A generic term for a log,…

Architecture, General Terms
marutabashira 丸太柱

A post made from a log, that has either the bark remaining or its bark stripped off but is not pared off smoothly.

Architecture, General Terms
maruzuka 丸束

Cylindrical struts. One example is a bottle strut *taiheizuka 大瓶束, used…

Architecture, General Terms
masame 柾目

Straight grain. The grain that runs parallel to the growth of the tree or at right angle to the tree rings. The quality of…

Architecture, General Terms
mashi 増

A gradual increase in the height of such structural members as rafters *taruki…

Architecture, General Terms
masu 斗

Also read to, sometimes written 枡. A box for measuring.

1 Any bearing block that is square…

Architecture, General Terms
masu-ishi 桝石

Stones cut into a cube or close to a perfect cube. Shaped like the square wooden measuring device *masu…

Architecture, General Terms
masugumi 斗組

Also pronounced togumi, sometimes written 枡組. Synonyms are *tokyō …

Architecture, General Terms
masumi 真隅

A right angle bisected exactly; for example, a hip rafter that bisects the corner framework forming a 45 degree angle on…

Architecture, General Terms
mawaribuchi 回縁

Also written 廻縁. A long edging board or finishing board that covers the junction point of a wall and ceiling. The finishing…

Architecture, General Terms
mawashijiki 回敷 ✓

Also called oimawashijiki 追回敷. The placement of straw mats *tatami 畳,…

Architecture, General Terms
mawatashidake 間渡竹

Also called mawatashi 間渡. Horizontal strips of split or whole bamboo or other type of wood that extend between the…

Architecture, General Terms
me-ita 目板 ✓

Sometimes called itabuki me-ita 板葺目板. Narrow boards or panel strips nailed over the joints of adjacent boards. When…

Architecture, General Terms
mebari 女梁 ✓

Also called meutsubari めうつ梁. The lower and shorter of two transverse members at right angles to the lintel *…

Architecture, General Terms
medō 馬道 ✓

A roofed passageway that runs from front to back in a long building. One example separates the *…

Architecture, General Terms
meibutsu 名物

Lit. "famous thing." Term applied to items of tea ceremony *chanoyu 茶湯…

Art History, General Terms
mekakushibei 目隠塀

Also mikakushibei 見隠塀. From mekakushi or mikakushi. Lit. "fence hidden from the eyes or…

Architecture, General Terms
mekasugai 目鎹 ✓

A type of iron clamp 8 to 15 cm long that allows a top framing beam *uchinorinuki…

Architecture, General Terms
mekura renji 盲連子 ✓

Blind mullions. Mullions that are set so closely together that what is behind them cannot be seen. Some blind mullions are…

Architecture, General Terms
mekurameji 盲目地

Also called nemurimeji 眠目地. A butt or closed joint, where pavement stones abut so seamlessly that they appear to be…

Architecture, General Terms
men-ita 綿板

Also written 面板. The flat faces of a board. The flat faces of the boards between the narrow horizontal strips *…

Architecture, General Terms
men 面 ✓

Also read as tsura, which means the surface or face of a structural member.

1 The chamfer…

Architecture, General Terms
mendo 面戸

Possibly a corruption of medo 目処. A gap between two things. A board used to cover or fill a gap is called mendo…

Architecture, General Terms
menkawabashira 面皮柱

Also menkawa 面皮. A pillar or post *hashira 柱, rafter *…

Architecture, General Terms
menkuri 面繰

The curved base of a bearing block.

Architecture, General Terms
mentori 面取

Also pronounced mendori. The chamfered or beveled edge of a pillar, post, piece of furniture, piece of latticework…

Architecture, General Terms
mentoribashira 面取柱

A square post or pillar with chamfered corners.

Architecture, General Terms
meotomado 夫婦窓

Lit. "husband and wife windows"; double windows. A type of window used in a tea ceremony house *…

Architecture, General Terms
meshiawase 召合 ✓

The meeting of two structural elements that butt together. Examples include sliding doors *…

Architecture, General Terms
mesukido 目透戸 ✓

Lit. "eye-gap door." A simple informal door that is composed of horizontal lattice yokogōshi 横格子 set fairly widely…

Architecture, General Terms
metsukebashira 目付柱

Lit. "eye-fastening post." Also mitsukibashira 見付柱; sumibashira 隅柱. A guide post. The corner post at the…

Architecture, General Terms

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JAANUS is the on-line Dictionary of Japanese Architectural and Art Historical Terminology compiled by Dr. Mary Neighbour Parent.

Originally built by the Atsumi International Scholarship Foundation, it is now hosted and maintained by the Media Center for Art History at Columbia University