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 *…

1　A shell, especially mother-of-pearl, inlay technique commonly used for lacquer ware *…

Ch: Luofuxian. The story and pictorial theme of an immortal on Mt. Luofu 羅浮山 (Jp: Rafusen) and the spirit…

Spiral shaped curls of hair, like snail-shells, on the head of a *nyorai…

Also *haiden 拝殿. A worship hall for Shinto shrine visitors. The plan…

Also called raihaidō 礼拝堂. A worship hall. When Buddhist temples were constructed during the 7th-8th century,…

Two or four-circular pillars right and left at each corner of the Buddhist altar to define the most sacred place in a temple…

Lit. "Amida with welcoming descent mudras." A figure of *Amida 阿弥陀 with hand…

Lit. "welcoming mudra." A mudra or hand gesture *in 印 in which the forefinger,…

Also called raigō-heki. A clay or wooden wall erected behind a Buddhist altar *…

Painted images of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, such as *Shaka 釈迦, *…

Lattice arranged in a fret pattern, used especially on railings of balconies.

Lit. "lightning pattern." Also read ikazuchimon いかずち文. A pattern of thick and thin zig-zag lines. A variation of *…

Ch: Lanzan weiyu 懶瓚煨芋. A Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) painting subject depicting the late 8th century Chinese Zen priest Lanzan…

Arhat. Ch: luohan, Sk: arhan. Abbreviation of arakan 阿羅漢, a translation of the Sk. term arhan…

An abbreviation of the term rakusei kanshiki 落成款識. Lit. "inscription cast into ancient bronze vessels at…

Paintings of scenes in and around Kyoto. Famous sites, festivals and activities within the capital rakuchū 洛中…

Also written 楽書. Graffiti or scribblings. The earliest examples in Japan are the scribblings in the margins or on the backs…

Raku 楽 ware. A light weight ceramic ware developed in Kyoto in the Momoyama period and particularly prized in the…

A net-like ornament strung with jewels or precious metals and hung from the canopy *…

Ch: lanyemiao. Lit. "orchid-leaf drawing." A style of ink-painting using fluid, modulated lines that resemble the…

A transom. A rectangular opening, longer in the horizontal direction, constructed between the lintels *…

Also called no-ishizumi 野石積. Stones with an irregular shape. Those that are somewhat square are called nozura-…

Also referred to as ranzumi kidan 乱積基壇, ranzō ransekizumi 乱層乱石積, kuzure ishizumi くずれ石積 or simply…

Also *ranzumi 乱積. Piling up unhewn rocks or random masonry. The earliest and…

The technique whereby bamboo strips are woven into shapes and coated with lacquer. Also called kagoji 籠地 (basket…

Ch: Lanting qushui. Lit. "meandering stream and orchid pavilion." A painting theme which refers to a gathering held…

A stone pagoda with an egg-shaped main body placed directly on a base. It differs from the *…

Lit. "random joints." Various types of architectural joints that can be either dovetail *…

Also called *ransekizumi 乱石積, waraizumi 笑い積. Randomly piled natural stones *…

Transliteration of Sanskrit raksasa, a term for demons in general, but which may also be divided into three classes…

Ch: Ling Zhaonu. Raised by her aged parents as a devout Buddhist, this semi-legendary daughter of Tang dynasty lay Buddhist…

Also byōsho 廟所 or mitamaya 霊屋.
A mausoleum in which the spirit of the dead is enshrined. It may be…

A set of books from which the larger portion is missing; the odd volume or smaller portion (i.e., several pages) of a larger…

Ch: Lingyun Guanhua. The Tang dynasty Zen 禅 priest Lingyun Zhiqin (Jp: Reiun Shikin 霊雲志勤), a disciple of Weishan Lingyu (Jp…

A long piece of paper or board the same length as *zenshi 全紙 (approximately 135…

A piece of paper, three-quarters the size of *zenshi 全紙. When a…

Lit. "lotus petal."
1　A pendant *gatō 瓦当, found on semi-…

1　Rengeji type lantern. So named because a pair of these lanterns stand in front of the main building at…

Also written 蓮花門. Lit. "Lotus Flower Gate." A gate located in the west wall opposite main east gate, Tōdaimon 東大門 of…

Also renge karakusa 蓮華唐草. Lit. "lotus pattern." A decorative floral and vine design motif that originated in China…

Also renza 蓮座. Lit. "Lotus base" (Sk: padmasana). A dais for a Buddhist image *…

Raised dots or bead-like forms that represent the seeds in a stylized lotus flower pattern decorating many pendant tiles *…

Also written 櫺子窓. Lit. "a row lath window."

1　A window with vertical or horizontal wooden laths or…

Also *shumon 珠文. A design pattern that uses circles to represent pearls which…

Also called renketsushiki tenshu 連結式天守. A castle in which the principle tower or keep *…

The central section of a lotus flower pedestal *rengeza 蓮華座 on which a Buddhist image usually…

A manner of representing drapery folds in Buddhist sculpture. It consists of either 

1) a high…

Lit. "connected towers." Also termed renritsushiki tenshu 連立式天守. An extensive, highly-developed castle complex…