Also hōbachi 宝鉢 (Sk: patra). A bowl used by Buddhist monks for meals, and as a begging bowl. The hachi is rounded and deep…

Abbreviation of Tenryū hachibushū 天竜八部衆. Eight classes of Indian deities who were converted by *…

Lit. eight great youths. Eight attendants of either *Monju 文殊 or more commonly *…

Also read hachijū shukō, hachijū zuigyōgō 八十随形好 hachijū zuigōsō 八十随好相. The 80 auspicious bodily…

Refers to the books of the floating world, *ukiyo zōshi 浮世草子, published by…

Lit. *Amida, 阿弥陀, with teeth exposed. An image of a standing Amida with his…

The joining or gluing together of parts when making a wooden statue or vessel. Originally the term meant sticking feathers…

Hagi ware. A general name for pottery made in the Matsumoto, 松本, area of western Hagi City, and in Nagato Fukawa, 長門深川, in…

A pictorial subject taken from "The Broom Tree," Hahakigi, Chapter 2 of Genji Monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

Lit. abolish Buddha. It was government policy during the early Meiji period to repress Buddhism in favor of Shinto which was…

Simple paintings which accompany and interact with the 17-syllable poetic verse called haiku, 俳句. Haiga is…

A wide, multi-purpose brush made of animal hair attached to a wooden handle. Hake range in size from 3 cm to 18 cm…

Lit. eight views. Eight scenic spots from one geographic area specifically chosen to be treated in verse or pictures. The…

Lit. biographies of eight dogs. A pictorial subjectin *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 taken from…

A Buddhist image contained in a box-shaped miniature shrine. Two symmetrical rectangular wings flank a main image, carved in…

Lit. foil or leaf. Gold, silver, copper, tin, or brass pounded into a thin flat sheet and used for the decoration of art…

Ch: Bo Ya Zhong Ziqi. A pictorial theme of friendship in Chinese painting. When the Zhou dynasty musician Bo Ya (Jp: …

Lit. Be Le assessing a horse. A Chinese painting subject of the 4th century horse trainer named Be Le (Jp: Haku Raku…

Ch: Bai Letian (772-846). A Chinese poet of the mid-Tang dynasty, depicted in a tradition of imaginary portrait paintings.…

Although the term literally means white drawing, hakubyō 白描 is a technique of painting that relies primarily on the…

Kaolin. Also todo とど. A fine soft white clay produced by the decomposition of other clays feldspar. Hakudo…

Painting on silk. In ancient China, before paper-making was developed, silk or haku (also called so 繪) was…

The Hakuhō period (645-710) referred to in recent scholarship as the Late Asuka period, Asuka jidai kōki 飛鳥時代後期.…

Ch: Boyi Shuqi. Brothers who lived during the late Shang - early Zhou dynasties, who were praised by Confucius for declining…

Also hakuire 箔入れ, hakuoki 箔置き. Making a design by stitching gold, silver, or colored foil with glue onto…

Devotional paintings of the cult of Hakusan 白山 (white mountains), a group of mountains that border Gifu, Fukui,…

An artist who applies gold or silver leaf *shippaku 漆箔 to the surface of a…

Paintings of a flat, undulatory sandy beach or sand spit with windswept pines, a traditional theme of *…

A plug used in *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 woodblock printmaking for making corrections or…

Ch: Pan Lang. Chinese Zhou dynasty recluse, originally a retainer of King Mu (Ch: Muwang; Jp: Bokuō 穆王, ca. 1001-972 BC).…

Pictorial Subject matter of *yamato-e やまと絵 painting. "The…

Also hanabishimon 花菱文. Decorative patterns *mon'yō 文様, or…

A pictorial subject based on Chapter 11 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji), "The Orange Blossoms" …

Bumpynosed fierce old man. A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a…

A pattern that features flying birds grasping flowers or small branches in their beaks. The design may feature phoenixes,…

Also written 咄本 or 話本. Lit. storybooks. Collections of humorous short stories and anecdotes popular during the Edo period.…

One of the painting guilds or studios za 座 in the atelier *nanto-edokoro…

The standard size of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints. Print sizes are given in the…

Also called ita 板. The wood used for the curved blocks which make woodblock prints *…

A print based on a rebus. A collection of images that might suggest a place name, the name of a courtesan, or a phrase from…

Lit. half *jōroku 丈六. A measure of height for a Buddhist statue. Eight …

Also hanka 半跏, hankaza 半跏坐, hanfuza 半趺坐, daibosatsuza 大菩薩坐, and bosatsuza 菩薩坐.…

A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a female serpent-demon filled…

In full Hannya-haramitsu (or Hannya-haramitta) bosatsu 般若波羅蜜(般若波羅蜜多)菩薩. A bodhisattva *…

Lit. half arm. A sleeveless short undergarment for aristocratic men. From the Nara through the early Heian periods, …

Also written 板本.

1　Also kanpon 刊本. A printed book of any type.

…

Also written 半折 and 半截. A size of paper obtained when full-size paper *zenshi…

Also written 判紙. A small-sized paper, approximately 25 cm by 35 cm. Being a convenient size for a variety of documents, …

Abbreviation of hanshita-e 版下絵. The final master drawing or design which was used by an artist or his workshop to…

Pictures on paper pasted onto small boxes and prized by women and girls in the early 18th century. Most of the pictures were…

A strip of paper encircling the outside cover *hyōshi 表紙 of a book, on which…

Also written 貼交絵. Prints of two or more subjects on a single page. Most common are colored paper shapes, poem-card *…

Also haritsukega 貼付画. Abbreviation of kabe haritsuke-e 壁貼付絵. Paintings on paper (or infrequently on silk)…

A thin (1.5 cm+), flat wooden frame glued to silk to stabilize it while it is being painted *…

A school of painters active in the 16th century and the 17th century, founded by Hasegawa Tōhaku 長谷川等伯 (1539-1610) who is…

1　A pictorial subject based on "The Lady at the Bridge" Hashihime, Chapter 45 of Genji…

1　Paintings e 絵 executed on the interior pillars *hashira…

Ch: baxian. Lit. eight immortals. The eight figures considered to be the experts in and protectors of Taoism. The impetus…

Ch: Bazhong huapu. Primer on Eight Varieties of Painting, a compilation of eight texts on poetry and painting…

Also written 八双, 雙双, 八宗. Can also be called hyōmoku 表木 when referring to hanging scrolls *…

An abbreviation for Yoshitsune hassōtobi 義経八艘飛 or Yoshitsune's Leap over Eight Boats, one of the many…

Also written 廿一. Lit. Barely twenty. Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing the…

Also hatasode 端袖, hiresode 鰭袖. A style of sleeve found on Buddhist images. The sleeve of the robe is tied…

Ch: pomo. Lit. splashed ink. An ink painting *suibokuga 水墨画…

A pictorial subject taken from "The First Warbler" or more literally "The First Song," Chapter 23 of Genji monogatari…

Written 折, 片木, or 剥.

1　A sculpture process of thinly shaving or scraping.

…

The Heian period (794-1185), during which Heiankyō 平安京 (later, Kyoto) became the political and cultural capital of Japan.…

Ch. Pingtuo. A technique in which thin sheets of metal are cut into decorative shapes and set in a lacquer base;…

Lit. paintings of Heike. The usual abbreviation of Heike monogatari-e 平家物語絵, illustrations of famous incidents…

A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a strong warrior in full maturity. Wide open…

Lit. wall painting or mural.

1　A generic term applied to all the paintings related to…

1　Also called *gaku 額. A tablet or board, framed or unframed, on…

The transformations in which *Kannon 観音 appears in order to save sentient…

Also called zanzan jōsui 残山剰水 (Ch: canshan shengshui) or left-over mountains and remaining water. A compositional…

Ch: bianxiang. Also called hen 変 (Ch: bian) or kyōhen 経変 (Ch: jingbian). Transformation scenes, tableaux,…

A style of wearing a Buddhist robe where the right shoulder is exposed. Frequently seen on *…

Also pronounced hensan, or called fukuken-e 覆肩衣, which literally means garment covering the shoulders. A…

Lit. secret Buddha. A Buddhist image which is ordinarily kept secret. Hibutsu are enshrined in miniature shrines *…

Fire-cord design. A decoration used on ceramics. While appearing accidental, this is a method created by the special…

Also known as Hie 日吉 (can be read Hiyoshi) matsuri 祭 or Sannō matsuri 山王祭. A pictorial…

Two noh masks *nōmen 能面 used one in the first and the other in the second act of…

Lit. east mountain culture. The culture of the middle Muromachi period *…

A woodblock printed advertisement used to announce a store, publicize a product, or advertise a new publication. In the…

Also read hikime kagibana and written 引目鈎鼻. Lit. slit eyes, hooked nose. A technique used to draw faces of the…

Lit. hemp-fiber texture stroke; a type of brushstroke, so called because it resembles a loose hemp thread. A texture brush…

Also pronounced hiinagata bon. Lit. miniature stamped book. A small-sized woodblock printed book produced during…

The manor of using a painting brush in Eastern art and calligraphy. Brush use technique was first mentioned by Xie He (Jp:…

A technique used to apply color evenly over an underpainting, without regard for lines. If the overcoat is opaque the under…

Also hiregata tenne 鰭形天衣. Lit. fin-shaped heavenly scarf. A long, ornamental scarf (see *…

1　Also hishigata 菱形. A diamond or lozenge shape. A term used to describe diamond-shaped cross…

1　 Diamond- or lozenge-shaped lattice or muntins used on doors, transoms, and fences *…

A diamond or lozenge-shaped motif that is a type of traditional design motif *…

Flying apsaras. Heavenly beings invisible to the human eye, believed to fly with superhuman power and speed. Found in Middle…

Also hitenkō 飛天光. Lit. flying apsaras nimbus. A halo *kōhai 光背,…

Also Hitomaru-zō 人丸像. An imaginary portrait of the Nara period poet Kakinomotono Hitomaro 柿本人麿, who is…

Also written 檜皮色.

1　A shade of dark brown, lit. cypress-bark color. Old names include juhi-…