Lit. cave alcove. A cave-like entrance to a tea ceremony room, partially enclosed by a side wall. The side wall is called *…

Also horaketa. The first two of a series of purlins that support hidden rafters *…

Also horakuchi. An opening on the side wall of an alcove *tokonoma…

Lit. Penglai distant mountain stone. A technique in which the stone representing Mt. Penglai *…

Lit. Penglai rock island. The technique of representing Mt. Penglai *Hōraisan…

Lit. Penglai garden. A general term for a garden focused thematically on Mt. Penglai *…

Lit. Penglai style. A type of garden in which there presentation of Mt. Penglai *…

Also called a boat stone funa-ishi 舟石 or treasure-boat stone takarabune-ishi 宝舟石. Lit. Penglai boat. A…

1　Lit. Mt. Penglai. Ch: Penglaishan. The most famous of the three Elysian mountain-isles believed to lie…

Lit. Penglai stone. A garden stone representing Mt. Penglai *Hōraisan 蓬莱山,…

A moat that completely or partially surrounds a castle, palace, or mansion. Moats are primarily for protection but may…

Lit. night attack on the Horikawa Palace. A pictorial subject depicting one of the many events in the life of tragic hero…

A dry moat *karabori 空堀, dug to separate and hinder passage between two peaks…

1　The skills, process, and work of carving in wood, bamboo, stone, metal, or other materials. It also…

A method of color application in *yamato-e やまと絵, whereby the…

A pathway that runs along the bottom of a dry moat *karabori 空堀. Dry moats…

A style of passageway or corridor on the outside of a temple, shrine, palace, or mansion. The passageway often connects two…

A specific type of mandala *besson mandara 別尊曼荼羅, based on the Daihō…

Measurements of a Buddhist statue and attachments. They include:

sōkō 総高: full height including the…

Also sujikō 筋光, nukigokō 貫後光, and kasagokō 傘御光. A radial nimbus. A type of the…

Lit. star mandara. A variety of dedicated mandala *Butsugen mandara…

An abbreviation of hōshogami 奉書紙, hōsho paper. A type of *washi…

Also *aka-e 赤絵. A woodblock print colored only with shades of red. The color was…

Lit. narrow format. A size of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print. The term hosoban is…

Lit. long narrow hall.

1　In Buddhist architecture, a long narrow structure set in front of…

1　Also read hossōge, an abbreviation of hōsōgemon 宝相華文. Lit. precious flower. Hōsōge…

1　Abbreviation of hōsōge karakusamon 宝相華唐草文. A type of Chinese arabesque design *…

A book of explanations and regulations of tea ceremony in one volume, believed to be the teaching of Ichio Iori 一尾伊織 (1602-…

The new timber used to repair or restore a traditional wooden building. Sometimes an entire rotted member is replaced, and…

Also known as osaehikinoko 押挽鋸. A thin bladed crosscut saw used to make a plane (see *…

Also hassai 髪際. Lit. Hairline. The point where the hair meets the forehead on a sculpted figure. The hairline is…

Lit. Six Patriarchs of the Hossō sect. In Japan: Shin'ei 神叡 (d. 737), Genbō 玄昉 (d. 746), Zenshu 善珠 (723-97), Gyōga 行賀(729-…

Also 白払. A kind of brush, used to drive away insects during meditation. The hossu originated in ancient India, and…

A pictorial subject taken from "Fireflies" Hotaru, Chapter 25 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Ch: Budai. A semi-legendary, itinerant 10th-century Buddhist monk who became a popular subject in Chinese and Japanese ink…

1　Lit. treasure pagoda. A generic name for a pagoda (Sk: stupa) of a type associated with the Buddhist…

Also read hōdo. The bearing block placed in the center of criss-cross bracket arms *…

The act of passing a Buddhist statue from the hands of the artist to the temple that commissioned the piece. Because the…

An unusual type of pagoda-shaped lantern found in a graveyard at Tsubakidera 椿寺 near Kitano Tenmangū 北野天満宮 in Kyoto.…

Also hōfukuzō 法服像. Lit. portrait in religious (i.e. Buddhist) appearance. A portrait of a person who has taken…

Also written 掘立て柱, 掘建て柱. Earth fast posts. Posts *hashira 柱 whose feet, …

Also written 掘立て小屋, 掘建て小屋.

1　A simply constructed vernacular hut with earthfast posts *…

Also written 掘立て, 掘建て. A construction technique whereby the feet of posts, hashira-no-nemoto 柱の根元, are embedded…

Old pronunciation was hoso. A tenon. Protuberances of differing shape and size made on the end of wood, stone, or…

A mortise. A cavity hewn from a timber or stone member or cut in metal to receivea tenon *…

The square struts used to support the ends of veranda boards. Circular posts are thought to have been used earlier than…

Lit. A hundred tales. Traditional and contemporary ghost stories as told, written, and illustrated in the Edo period. Early…

Lit. one million pagodas. Wooden, miniature, three-storied, circular, memorial pagodas wrought on a lathe for Empress Kōken…

Lit. Single poems by 100 poets. A collection of waka 和歌 compiled by Fujiwara no Teika 藤原定家 (also known as Sadaie,…

Mounting. Also termed *hyōsō 表装. Hyōgu refers to the mounting of a…

The covers of a bound book *sasshibon 冊子本, or an accordion book *…

To mount a work of art in a hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物, handscroll *…

Lit. "a long board."

1　The board used as the base of the *…

1　An early term for long boards used on roofs. Records dating from the 8th century first used the terms…

An elongated hexagon or a decorative pattern consisting of a series of elongated hexagon shapes.

Longer than standard semi-cylindrical roof tiles used as coping tiles *kasagawara…

Lit. "flowing."

1　The flow of the roof line from the ridge *…

Also nagare hafu-zukuri 流破風造. A widely used style of main sanctuary *…

A sloped tenon, which is cut into the end of a beam. The top of the tenon is flush with the top surface of the beam. 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…

1　A sink used for washing food before its preparation, for washing utensils after a meal, or for washing…

The long side of a timber, or a timber placed in a lengthwise direction.

A room at Kumano Jinja 熊野神社, in Fukushima Prefecture, which is similar to a worshipper's hall *…

Longhouse, or row house. A house with a long ridge. Also indicates a house with a number of residences connected under a…

The smallest of three standard sizes of roof tiles yanegawara 屋根瓦, used during the 17th-19th century. The…

Also once known as Zaōdō 蔵王堂. The Nageiredō is a small building, constructed in the overhang style kake-zukuri 懸造,…

A transverse beam *hari 梁 made in two sections and coupled by a stub-tenon-…

Non-penetrating tie beams that are made to fit around pillars *hashira 柱 of…

A long rectangular beam cut along a diagonal cross-section and used as a non-penetrating tie *nageshi…

Also called naginata mayu 薙刀眉 or 長刀眉. A type of carved molding *kurigata…

A sudden strong, upward curve at the corner ends of eaves. Especially characteristic of the Zen style *…

Buddhist priests' living quarters. Higher-ranking priests had two rooms one behind the other. The inner room was called the…

1　An interior wall partition.

2　The inner surface of a wall.

Also read naishimon. Traditionally, the timbergate through which virgin attendants entered a shrine. Structurally,…

The inner sanctum located in the main halls *kondō 金堂 or *…

Also called moyabashira 母屋柱; irikawabashira入側柱. The pillars placed on the boundary between, or slightly…

The innermost compound *kuruwa 郭 of a castle. Sometimes called *…

The inner section of the pendant *gatō 瓦当, attached to a semi-…

Small entrance-gates at Yoshida Jinja 吉田神社 in Kyoto. They are located in front of two small shrines behind the octagonal…

1　A miniature shrine within the sanctuary of a Shinto shrine.

2　The innermost…

A board which is inserted between the host's mat *temaedatami 点前畳 and the…

1　A semi-formal entrance to Honmaru Goten 本丸御殿, the main palace in Edo-jō 江戸城. It was situated at the east…

According to the Shokunihongi 続日本紀, a gate leading to the waiting area for all officials, chōshūden…

1　A generic term for a door connecting two areas of a structure.

2　A door in the…

A garden wash-basin set characterized by the use of gravel surrounding it. The gravel allows the water from hand washing to…

1　Also *daimebashira 台目柱. A small pillar which stands at…

A pair of sliding doors *hikichigai 引違, separating the front…

A rain gutter placed at the bottom point where two roofs meet. Similar to *narabidō 双堂…

An urban vernacular residence *machiya 町家, characterised by a…

An inner earth-floored area found in *nakadoma machiya…

Also called nakazan 中桟. A middle rail. A horizontal rail or rails inserted into stiles tategamachi 竪框 and…

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

A vertical, finishing strip of wood placed between the threshold *shikii 敷居 and…

1　A private service-oriented room in the mansions of aristocrats, warriors, retired emperors, abbots and…

A tea ceremony room or house that contains a board *naka-ita 中板, set between the host's mat…

Also *ni-no-maru 二の丸, ni-no-kuruwa 二の郭, naka-no-maru 中の丸.…

Also called sakuko 柵子, kakusaku 角柵, marutazaku 丸太柵. The stakes used to support the fencing set in…

Also *hanakugi 花釘, tokonakakugi 床中釘 (see *…

Lit. "middle wicket." Also pronounced uchisomi. It is sometimes called kuguri 潜. A type of middle…