1　An archaic term taken directly from the Chinese for a ceiling board. Usually,…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a good-luck sea sprite, fond of…

Also read seijōseki, called nozoki-ishi 覗石 or kiyome-ishi きよめ石. Lit. "pure stone."

…

Sk: Aryavalokitesvara. Also written 正観音. This is the term for the simplest form of *…

Ch: Zhuge Liang (181-234). Also known as Kongming (Jp: Kōmei 孔明). A counsellor to the Chinese Han emperor Liu Bei (Jp: Ryū…

Small-scale, close-up painting of landscapes. The scenes generally depict misty fields and rivers or lakes and may also…

Ch: Zhongkui. A god in the Chinese Daoist pantheon known as the Demon-queller, often depicted in sculpture and painting. A…

Also read sokuji-in (Sk: bhusparsa-mudra). Also gōma-in 降魔印. Earth-touching mudra. A type of hand…

Illustrations of people of various occupations in their workshops, which became popular in the Momoyama and early Edo…

Lit. "plants." The various plants, trees, bushes, and flowers placed in a garden. The term also is used to refer to gardens…

Lit. "clarification for the artisan-builder." The best known manual of construction and building design. It is based on oral…

The form of a work of art made for contemplation from the front. This style is often found in Japanese Buddhist sculpture…

Also known as Seishoku Daikongō Yasha 青色大金剛薬叉. A deity who protects against diseases believed to be caused by…

Also tsuyazuri つや摺 (lustre printing), and sometimes written 上面摺. Lit. "printing from the front." A printing…

Also written 勝南院座, 小南院座, 小波座. One of the painting studios or guilds, za 座 of the *…

Lit. "list of objects acquired and brought back." Lists and other records of Buddhist objects brought back to Japan from…

Also written 将来品. Buddhist implements, statues shōraibutsu 請来仏, or writings brought back to Japan by…

Also called shūrō; kanetsukidō 鐘突堂, lit. "bell hitting hall"; and tsuriganedō 釣鐘堂, belfry. A…

Also read shūrōmon. A two-storied temple gate in which a bell is hung, often found in Tendai 天台 sect temples. A…

A hall dedicated to the soul of Shōtoku Taishi (see *Shōtoku Taishi-zō 聖徳太子像) at…

Also shosaijiku 書斎軸 or saijiku 斉軸. Associated with *shigajiku …

Enlarged drawings that render particular parts of a building in minute detail. This includes complete sectional, partial,…

Lit. "small shaku 尺." An ancient unit of length. Introduced in the Taihōryō 大宝令 codes of 701, it measured 29.6 cm,…

Meaning genuine tree. The term was coined in the middle Edo period to refer to the dominant or master tree in a garden.…

Ch: Xiaoxiang bajing. Lit. "Eight views of the Xiao and the Xiang." The eight designated scenes of the area around…

Also called Sōen-in 倉垣院. A treasure storehouse *hōko 宝庫 with a raised floor at…

Originally, a waterfall in nature. With the rise of dry waterfalls *karetaki…

Idealized portraits in sculpture and painting made for the worship and reverence of Shōtoku Taishi 聖徳太子 (ca. 574-…

*Mandara 曼荼羅 (mandala) of the Sutra for Praying for Rain. A variety…

A square pedestal used in portraits of seated high-ranking Buddhist priests. It is usually a simple square dais supported by…

Ch: Shangshan sihao. A pictorial subject depicting four elderly sages who fled from the turbulent society of the…

Ch: Zhu Maichen. A Chinese Han dynasty woodcutter so enamored with learning that he read as he carried bundles of firewood…

Ch: Zhou Maoshu (1017-73). A well-known Confucian scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty, depicted in a tradition of imaginary…

Vermilion. An intense orange-red pigment *ganryō 顔料 made of…

Lit. "deer's tail." A type of brush, originally made from a deer's tail attached to a handle. The shubi's practical…

Lit. "master tree." The tree planted on the top, front of a garden hill *tsukiyama…

A satin textile woven with colored woofs to form a pattern, originating in Ming China. As more than seven colors were used,…

The upper and lower rim on a broad, concave, eave-end tile *nokihiragawara…

Lit. "guardian tree." One name given to the main tree planted in the middle of a flat garden hiraniwa 平庭. The term…

Lit. "seed syllable mandala." A mandala *mandara 曼荼羅 in which the deities are…

A measure of height for a Buddhist statue based on shūjaku 周尺, a unit of measure used in Zhou dynasty China (1 …

Ten Categories of Collected Antiquities, a late Edo period illustrated catalog of old art objects edited by the…

Ch: Zhougong Dan. The virtuous Duke of Zhou 周公 (Ch: Zhougong; Jp: Shūkō), the son of King Wen 文王 (Ch: Wen Wang; Jp: Bun Ō)…

Also read Shūkongōjin. Also called Kongōshu 金剛手, Jikongō 持金剛, *…

A type of settlement or township which developed along major trunk roads during the medieval and early modern periods,…

A guild of Buddhist sculptors active in Nara (see *nanto busshi 南都仏師) in…

1　Edo period towns used as a stopping place by the Tokugawa 徳川 shoguns when they traveled outside the city…

Lit. "shrunken scenery." The imitation of a famous scenic spot meisho 名所 in a garden through the creation of a…

A vernacular house *minka 民家, in the style known as *…

1　A term for a style of vernacular residence *minka 民家, with…

Lit. "abbreviated illustration." A simple miniature copy of an earlier work of art, and, as such, a valuable source of…

An altar made of fine timber, generally with panelling, hame 羽目, and rich moldings at its top and bottom.…

Mt. Sumeru. Also called Myōkōsan 妙高山 or Kinzan 金山. A great mountain that, according to ancient Indian cosmology, towers…

Lit. "Mt. Sumeru type stone arrangement." A grouping of stones which expresses Mt. Sumeru *Shumisen…

A raised bead, nipple or seed motif that became a common part of the decoration on the pendant tiles *…

Also formerly osokuzu-no-e おそくずの絵, makura-e 枕絵, makura sōshi 枕草紙, or e-hon 会本; also…

1　A Shingon 真言 priest (1143-79), who was an anti-Taira 平 conspirator, and a tragic exile. The story of…

Texture or modeling strokes used by artists to depict the surfaces of trees, rocks and ground, which lend a sense of form…

Lit. "main stone." The stone at the center of a stone arrangement *ishigumi…

Lit. "Buddha coming forth from the mountains." A scene from the life of the historical Buddha (Sk: Sakyamuni, *…

A pictorial subject taken from the popular tale, Ōeyama Shuten dōji 大江山酒顛童子 (The Drunkard Boy of Mt. Ōe),…

Also hakkutsuhin 発掘品. Lit. "objects which came out of the earth." Excavated objects. *…

Also shuboku, akazumi 赤墨. Red ink. Black carbon ink *sumi 墨, mixed with cinnabar red…

One story of a building or a counter for the number of roofs on a pagoda *tō 塔. A…

Ch: Su Li Juebie. The farewell of Su Wu (Jp: So Bu 蘇武, ca. 140-60 BCE) and Li Ling (Jp: Ri Ryō 李陵, ?-72 BCE). A…

Ch: Su Dongpo (1036-1101). Lit. "retired scholar of the eastern slope." A Northern Song Chinese literatus who was a noted…

A large carving tool which is used to shave away large areas of a woodblock *hangi…

A small, rustic style tea ceremony structure up to 4 1/2 mats *yojōhan 四畳半,…

Also called kiwaki or kowaki 木端. A side or end view of a board or plank which reveals its thickness.

Rafters *taruki 垂木 laid on an eave sobanoki 傍軒, that juts out from a…

Also sōban 双盤. A cushion or footing stone with a concave upper part and a convex lower part placed between the…

A plain, single-petaled, stylized lotus pattern found on the pendant *gatō…

Plain, unembellished flower petals used especially to decorate the pendants *gatō…

Lit. "overall border." An outer framing fabric surrounding a painting or calligraphy. The sōberi is used in various…

Also written 僧坊. Buddhist priests', monks' or nuns' living quarters in the 7th-8th century. One of the seven buildings…

Ch: caochonghua. Paintings of insects and plants, where various kinds of insects including bees, butterflies, and…

Lit. "sleeve."

1　A generic term meaning any structural element that is on the side of a main…

Lit. "sleeve fence." A narrow fence which may serve to screen off some garden element or may be completely ornamental.…

Lit. "sleeve shape." A type of water basin *chōzubachi 手水鉢 in…

A *dozō 土蔵 type of storehouse flanking the main shop *…

Aside or wing wall.

1　A generic term for a narrow wall projecting from either an inside or outside…

The process by which the diameter of the ends of large rainbow beams *kōryō 虹梁…

Small wing-like balustrades placed at an open angle to the right and left of the bottom of the steps leading to the veranda…

Also sodegawara 袖瓦, *tonemarugawara 利根丸瓦, tonegawara…

A defensive square projection in a castle wall on one side of the castle entrance *…

Lit. "sleeve udatsu." Extensions of the gable parapet walls *udatsu 卯立…

A large hall at a Zen temple. It was divided into two parts. The front part, called the *…

Lit. "accompanying stones." Stones arranged near to the main stone *shuseki 主石 of a stone…

1　A small reinforcement post attached to the side of a larger post or pillar. If a reinforcement post is…

Calligraphy, painting, documents, letters and other items that accompany tea utensils, and are mounted as hanging scrolls *…

1　A splice, fish plate, splint or brace. Timber strips attached to principal pillars to stabilize or…

A type of six-sided lantern. The canopy is thin with half-circled bracken-shoot patterns *…

Also called yosezuka 寄束 or wakizuka 脇束. Small reinforcing struts attached to one or both sides of a beam…

The Soga school. A group of Japanese painters active from the 15th through the 18th century. Although later Soga artists…

A pictorial subject depicting scenes from Soga monogatari 曽我物語 (The Tale of The Soga), a seminal warrior…

Also termed sōgawa 総河, sometimes written 総側 or 総川, sōguruwa 総郭, 総曲輪. The enclosure that surrounds a town…

Also written 惣型. A method of metal casting which used a clay mould. The mould was made by carving the shape of the desired…

Chinese painting of the Song (Jp: Sō 宋) and Yuan (Jp: Gen 元) dynasties, particularly as collected in Japan. The majority of…

Also written 曾木板 or 枌板; also called hegi-ita へぎ板. A thinly cut wooden shingle, 3 mm thick, and usually 30 cm x…

A basic bevelled scarf. A timber with a slanted cut, usually at an approximately 30 degree angle. To form a joint, a scarf…