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 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…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a small Chinese fox. Its thin-lipped, slightly…

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

A medicine jar, found on the palm of the left hand in figures of *Yakushi 薬師, the…

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-…

Keka 悔過 is a term used in Buddhism meaning repentance of one's sins, and refers to the chanting of prayers to…

The name of the Buddha associated with healing. Sino-Japanese rendering of Sanskrit Bhaisajyaguru, meaning "Medicine Master…

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 read Yamagoshi no Amida; Amida yamagoe (yamagoshi) raigō 阿弥陀山越来迎. Lit. "Amida…

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.…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing the suffering spirit of a woman who dies from…

Emaciated man. Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a ghost suffering in hell. Lean…

Also yakusha 薬叉 (Sk: yaksa), a class of semi-divine beings usually considered to be of a benevolent and…

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…

The Yayoi period (ca. 400 BCE to 250 CE). The period is marked by the establishment of rice cultivation and an agrarian…

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…

Lit. "wish-granting mudra (Sk: varada mudra)"; also segan-in 施願印. A mudra or hand gesture *…

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…

1　A string of beads or lacework used to decorate Buddhist statues and objects. Often found on Bodhisattva…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a 12th-century warrior-poet of the Seiwa Genji…

Priest with faltering step. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a blind young boy…

Also called Yakuō Kannon 薬王観音. Lit. "Willow Kannon" or "*Kannon 観音 with a willow branch…

Also read yosegi zukuri. Formerly called kiyose zukuri 木寄造 or yoseai zukuri 寄合造. Antomym of *…

The Yoshino period. A seldom-used, rather old-fashioned term for the Southern and Northern Courts period *…

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

Devotional paintings of the deities and landscape of Mt. *Yoshino 吉野. Yoshino…

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…