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…

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

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. "inner horse exit." A defensive installation *umadashi 馬出 constructed to fortify the…

1　The inner moat of a castle that has two or more moats.

2　The moat dug on the…

A strike-through chisel. Normally, when constructing a pass-through mortise, the timber is carved away from both sides with…

A subordinate entry in houses possessing a formal guest entry *genkan 玄関, and…

Also written 内隈. Lit. "interior shading." A technique *kumadori 隈取 in non-…

Also written 内曇. Also called kumogami 雲紙. Abbreviation of uchigumorigami 打曇紙. A type of decorated paper,…

A technique used to hollow out the interior of a wooden statue. The hollow produced is also called uchiguri.…

Also read naikaku. Also called naijō 内城. An inner compound. Generally, it refers to the central…

Also pronounced uttegaeshi 打って返し, utasegaeshi 打たせ返し. Perfect symmetry on both sides of a center line…

An unbelted woman's outer garment worn over the *kosode 小袖 on formal occasions…

Lit. "pounded and inserted stone joinery." The most common stone work technique used to build a dry construction castle wall…

Pillars *hashira 柱 with an inward incline. Uchikorobi…

Rafters *taruki 垂木 that extend from the flying rafter support *…

Lit. "inner square box." A type of walled compound *masugata 桝形…

1　The inside measurement between the inner sides of two posts or pillars *…

A penetrating tie beam *nuki 貫 placed directly on top of a door or…

Also called uchinorimono 内法物. The wooden materials used for the framework of a sliding screen *…

Inner tea garden. The part of the double tea garden nijū roji 二重露地, between the middle gate *…

A type of loophole *sama 狭間. An opening in a wall for soldiers to…

Lit. "fan painting." A painting either directly on a fan *uchiwa 団扇, or on a round format…

Also read dansen. A round or oval fan made of paper or silk pasted over a framework of thin strips of bamboo.…

Also written 卯建, 宇立, うだつ; all read udachi, odatsu, or odachi.

1　A term…

1　A wide post at the interface between the earth-floored space *doma…

1　A rudimentary thatched dwelling hut or ancillary structure with a gable roof *…

1　A relatively short horizontal timber that functions like a brace. It is attached to and extends outward…

Also called *kidomon 木戸門. A simple gate with two main posts…

Lit. "planting." A technique used to make wooden statues, where the hair and beard are made separately, and then attached to…

An open site, generally in Okinawa, devoid of any kind of structure, from where the gods are worshipped. Most sites are…

Lit. "nightingale floor." Floor boards which rub together when walked on to produce a pleasant and delicate sound. This type…

Lit. "bush warbler fence." A common type of rustic sleeve fence *sodegaki…

An abbreviation of Kongō sekishō zenshin uhō dōji 金剛赤精善神雨宝童子. A manifestation of the Buddha *…

A modern city in the southern part of Kyoto where the Byōdōin 平等院 (1052) is located. Historically, Uji was a resort for the…

A visual motif in the *yamato-e やまと絵 tradition, depicting the…

Lit. "Battles of the Uji 宇治 River." Two dramatic and decisive battles that took place near the Uji bridge, over the river,…

A small-sized preliminary sketch undertaken by an artist expressly at the request of a patron. These sketches may be…

Also written 有気絵. Woodblock prints or paintings *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 produced for an individual…

Also written 請花, 受華, 請華; sometimes pronounced ukehana. Flower-shaped support. A support in the shape of an open,…

Also *chūdai 中台. Middle base.

A generic term for all supporting or receiving structural members. For example, a timber that receives an eave cornice is…

The indentation in the middle of the base *kiso 基礎 of a lantern…

Lit. "floating picture." Usually a woodblock print, in which the three-dimensionality of a scene is emphasized by using one…

Formerly known as hanshutsuzō 半出像. A relief, or a method used to carve a relief on a flat surface. Halfway…

A pictorial subject taken from "Ukifune" ("A Boat upon the Waters"), Chapter 51 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

Lit. "pictures of the floating world." Paintings and woodblock prints of genre themes developed from the mid-Edo to early…

Currents of Thought on Ukiyo-e, a series of biographies of *ukiyo-e …

Lit. "books of the floating world." Printed books containing illustrated prose stories which developed from the Kamigata…

Marigold, saffron yellow. A bright yellow dye taken from the root stalk of the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa).…

A main castle gate *koguchi 虎口 with a small barrier or compound…