Ch: Fu Daishi. Buddhist Master Fu or Great Teacher Fu. The Chinese Buddhist layman Fu Xi (Jp: Fu Kyū 傅翕, 497-569)…

Sanskrit: Potalaka. Sometimes written 普陀楽山, 布落迦山; also called Fudaraku 補陀落. Octagonal island-mountain paradise…

Noh mask *nōmen 能面, representing *Fudō …

The chief of the Five Great Myōō, *Godai Myōō 五大明王, Fudō has been, and…

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. universally good (Sk: Samantabhadra); also Henkitsu 遍吉. A bodhisattva, *bosatsu…

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

Devotional paintings of Mt. Fuji 富士 in a large hanging scroll format. Usually they are in the form of sankei mandara…

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…

Lit. Wind God and Thunder God. Based on popular Indian deities (Sk: Vayu and Varun) and Chinese deities (Ch: Fengshen 風神 and…

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

Deep. A noh mask, *nōmen 能面, representing a middle-aged woman torn by…

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,…

The part of a lotus-petal base, *rengeza 蓮華座, for a Buddhist image…

1　Also written 葺返. A board which projects diagonally out from the top of a statue canopy, *…

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

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

Also fukiyosebuki 吹寄葺, fukiyose renben 吹寄蓮弁, or *fukiyose…

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

The god of happiness, represented in kyōgen 狂言 plays by a masked figure, *…

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…

Also known as Fukūkensaku Kannon. His name, "non-empty noose," is pronounced differently in Shingon 真言 (Fukaukenjaku) and…

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 *…

Ch: Fu Lu Shou. A popular deity of wealth (fuku 福), happiness (roku 禄), and longevity( ju 寿),…

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…

Replica casting. A technique used in metal casting, where a simple, flat metal object was covered with clay to make a mold.…

Also funagatakō 舟形光. Lit. boat-shaped halo. A halo, *kōhai 光背, with a…

Also read fundame. A technique of coating a statue with gold. Used during and after the Kamakura period. The figure…

Also funnugyō 忿怒形 or shinnusō 瞋怒相. An angry expression found on Buddhist images. The opposite of *…

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

Also pronounced funsōe or funsōi. A Buddhist monk's robe made from rags. According to Buddhist tradition,…

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. cloth masks. Also sakumen 作面. Eighth-century burlap (ramie) pieces with a human face sketched in the…

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

Knotted zō. A noh mask, *nōmen 能面, representing a mature young woman. A…

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, …

Abbreviation of either the *kekka fuza 結跏趺坐 (full-lotus posture) or the *…

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

A term used to group a number of artists and artistic styles associated with the city of Nagasaki 長崎 from the 17th through…

Also called nagasaki-e 長崎絵 or Nagasaki prints. Woodblock prints made in the port city of Nagasaki during the Edo…

Also written 中子. Sometimes known as *ogata 雄型. Inner mould. When a metal statue…

Lit. "Becoming bestial." A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 used for the wife taking revenge…

Pictures of a catfish, namazu 鯰. Japanese legend has it that the movement of large catfish deep inside the earth…

Also written 魚子, 斜子. Lit. "fish-roe."
1　A pattern of small dots thought to resemble fish-roe, and…

Lit. "the seven Komachi." Seven episodes concerning the mid-9th century poetess Ono no Komachi 小野小町, one of the Six Poetic…

Folding screens *byōbu 屏風, usually in a pair, depicting Portuguese and…

Western painting brought by the Portuguese and Spanish who arrived in Japan in the 16th century, nanban bijutsu…

Lit. "Southern barbarian art." Considered to be the first manifestation of direct Western influence on Japanese culture,…

The Southern and Northern Court period (1336-92). It takes its name from two separate antagonistic Imperial courts supported…

Lit. "Southern painting." An abbreviation of *nanshūga 南宗画, which…

A group of artists who produced bird-and-flower painting introduced to Japan by the Chinese artist Shen Nanpin (Jp: Shin…

Ch: nanzonghua. The Southern school of Chinese painting. Composed of literati (scholars) as opposed to the Northern…

A general term for Buddhist sculptors *busshi 仏師 working in Nara…

Lit. "painting atelier of the southern capital" (nanto 南都, an alternative name for Nara 奈良). Refers to the three…

Ch: Nanquan zhihua. Lit. "Nanzen 南泉 (Ch: Nanquan) pointing at flowers." A Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) dialogue in which the…

Ch: Nanquan zhanmao. A painting subject depicting the Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) parable of the priest Nanquan Puyuan (Jp:…

Also nankin busshi or nankyō busshi 南京仏師, yamashinadera busshi 山階寺仏師, otera busshi 御寺仏師…

A type of illustrated woodblock-printed book or handscroll popular from the Muromachi through mid-Edo periods. Although…

The Nara period (645-794). In 645 a coup to restore Imperial authority was carried out by Prince Naka no Ōe 中大兄 (later,…

A pictorial theme based on the *kabuki 歌舞伎 play named after its…

A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 and the mask *…

A type of wooden sculpture characterized by round chisel nata 鉈 marks that are left on the surface. Natabori…

Lit. "nirvana painting." A genre of painting that depicts the death of the historical Buddha *…

The Kyoto-Osaka region kamigata 上方 term for a *kabuki 歌舞伎 play book…

Era name. The practice of naming eras originated in China when the first era name, Jian wu (Jp: Kengen 建元), was given to the…

Also jibutsu 持仏 and uchibotoke 内仏. A Buddhist image which is kept at close proximity for personal daily…

Also pronounced nenchū gyōji. Lit. "annual events." Nenjū gyōji originally meant the monthly celebrations…

A standing screen *tsuitate shōji 衝立障子 placed on the low wooden floor…

Also juzu 数珠, 誦数. A string of beads or a rosary, used for Buddhist prayer and invocation. Particularly associated…

The date of production of a work of art. Nenki are often accompanied by the signature of the artist shomei…

Also called komatsuhiki 小松引 (pulling up small pines). Lit. "Day of the Rat Celebration." One of the traditional…

Paper *washi 和紙 used in painting and drawing to transfer an image to…

Also gyōdō 行道, gōshō-e 迎接会, raigō-e 来迎会. A Buddhist ceremony brought to Japan from the…

A modelling material resembling *kokuso-urushi 木屎漆 but harder in…

A miniature sculpture that is ties to a portable tiered container *inrō 印籠 worn…

A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 performed right after *…

A statue or painting depicting the Buddhas *Shaka 釈迦 and Tahō 多宝…

An abbreviation of Nichiren Shōnin 日連上人 (1222-82). A radical reformer of popular Buddhism and founder of the …

1　Lit. "face likeness pictures." Very often bust portraits or a likeness of the head. See *…

Lit. "Japanese-style painting." The term came into use during the Meiji period to distinguish indigenous painting from…

Also nijū enkōhai 二重円光背, nijū ensō二重円相. Lit. "double round halo." A type of halo *…

Lit. "25 bodhisattvas *bosatsu 菩薩." The bosatsu that are…

The 28 attendants of *Senju Kannon 千手観音. They protect those who place…

Lit. "28 lunar mansions." In the astronomical theory of both ancient India and China the path of the moon during a single…

Ch: ershisixiao. Lit. "twenty-four paragons of filial piety." A popular theme in Chinese figure painting based on…

Also read niga byakudō-zu. Lit. "picture of Two Rivers and the White Path." Inspired by a parable taught by the…

A transparent or semi-transparent animal glue, used as a binder *baizai 媒剤, and…