A hip-and-gable roof. In Japanese architecture, the gable part is usually over the core area of the building, *…

A hip-and-gable roof construction, or a building with this roof construction. A gable type roof has a ridge and gable…

The placement of the fire-box or hearth cut within the host's mat *temae datami…

The lowest section of a dais *kamachiza 框座 for a Buddhist sculpture that is…

The internal angle made by the junction of two planes, such as walls, a wall and ceiling, or the inside angle made by the…

Also called yatoi zane 雇実; yatoi zanebari 雇実張 or yatoi zanehagi 雇実矧. A plank that is grooved on…

Lit. colored picture.

1　A metalwork term for the soldering of thin sheets of gold, silver, or other…

Lit. missing color. The blank areas on a colored woodblock print *ukiyo-e …

1　Paper dyed various colors using one of several techniques: sen'izome 繊維染 (raw fibers dyed before…

Also written 色隈. A shading *kumadori 隈取 technique which uses…

Also written 居炉裏. Also called ro 炉. An open hearth set in the floor of various rooms in Japanese buildings.…

Also pronounced irozashi or written 色指し.

1　Also irogaki 色書き or irowake…

Loopholes or gun ports that are cut in a castle wall at the height of a seated defender's shoulder. The holes are mainly…

Also izarai. A finishing stage in the making of cast metal statues. When a cast statue was removed from its mold,…

Illustrations, decorative motifs, or other work of art connected with Ise monogatari 伊勢物語 (The Tales of Ise…

Gateways *torii 鳥居, specific to Ise Jingū 伊勢神宮, of which there are two types.…

The depth of a stone in a stone wall *ishigaki 石垣. This is the…

Also termed ishi otoshimado 石落窓. Stone drop, or stone drop window. A castle installation built into the keep *…

A square chair with armrests and a back in the form of a Shinto gateway *torii…

Also kanokodate 鹿の子建 and ishitsuki 石付. A technique used at a folk dwelling to attach a pillar to a…

Lit. stone bridge. A general term for a garden bridge made of stones, typically granite or schist. Ishibashi may be…

Also *nobedan 延段; tatami ishi 畳石.

1　…

Also written 甃文. Also arare 霰 or *ichimatatsu 市松. A…

A dry stone wall. A retaining stone foundation wall built without binding materials over an inclined earthen embankment.…

A method of metal casting where the form of the desired object was carved into a sandstone mold, and molten metal was poured…

The point at which a base stone and a pillar are joined. The upper surface of a plinth stone on which another stone may be…

Lit. stone arrangement. Also called iwagumi. The arrangement of stones for symbolical, functional, or decorative…

Lit. stone paving. The place where paving stones are to be laid, or the stones themselves. Stones are carefully selected for…

A gate at Kanazawajō 金沢城 (1788) in Ishikawa Prefecture. It is an excellent example of the square *…

A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing an old man. The slightly sunken…

Wood shingles *itabuki 板葺, held in position with stones. Generally used for…

A stone loophole used to fire a gun through a castle wall. Unlike the usual loopholes *…

A shelf or platform from which stones or small rocks were hurled against an enemy. This shelf or platform runs along the…

1　The cutting and arrangement of stones.

2　The layout of masonry.

Also mokutaku zuri e 木拓摺絵. A print with a totally black inked background and outlines of forms left white, giving a…

A halved rabbeted (oblique) scarf joint *sogitsugi 殺継. A…

Also written 鈑 or 版. Originally a relatively thin flat timber, stone, or sheet of metal. In the medieval period (1185-1568…

Lit. woodblocking shading. A technique used to produce graduated tones on a woodblock print *…

Lit. paintings on wooden boards. A painting on a wall or door of a temple or shrine. Examples include the paintings on the…

A thin, flat stone resembling a board. Also called a plate stone. The stone can be divided into three types depending on the…

Traditional transoms that are made of wood and have sections filled with a single board, or one or two parts are filled with…

Also called itabari tenjō 板張天井 or *hariita tenjō 張板天井…

A floor plan for a wooden building drawn by a carpenter on a thin piece of board. The plan does not include detail, but the…

A wooden board or plank fence. Wooden fences made of planks and set directly into the ground are called hottate itabei…

One type of pagoda or stupa, tōba 塔婆, in the form of a flat stone stele that became prevalent in the early 13th…

Wood shingles. Widely used in Japan for buildings of many kinds, ranging from palaces, elite residences, shrines, and…

A roof structure covered with boards or planks. Various names are used depending on the size of the boards. A large plan…

Wooden panels with the grain set in alternating directions in a coffered ceiling *…

1　The boards covered by tightly woven straw mats *tatami 畳,…

An alcove with a wooden floor instead of a *tatami 畳 mat. There…

An Edo period term for wooden planks with a rectangular cross-section, between 5 cm and 30 cm thick. These planks were cut…

A common type of wooden board flooring commonly used before thick straw matting *tatami…

Also read itagarado; also called itatobira 板扉. A 6th-7th century door made of a single, thick wooden plank…

Lit. board nimbus. A halo *kōhai 光背 on a Buddhist statue, carved…

1　A low timber platform constructed within the earth-floored area *doma…

Thick boards used to cover exposed base rafters visible under eaves. Examples: Eihōji Kannondō 永保寺観音堂 (1315), Gifu…

Also hegesoko 扮げ底, heragaeshi 箆返. The method of removing a ceramic tea caddy *…

Also read itaoshi. Battens used to prevent boards from moving. They are long, thin strips of wood set vertically…

Lit. one and a half *chakushu ちゃく手. Approximately 36.3 cm. A…

Lit. one chō 丁. One folded page of a printed book during the Edo period. Because only one side of a sheet was…

Lit. single casting. A term used in metal casting when the entire form of a statue was cast at once, and not in separate…

Lit. string plus shaku. A measurement that equals 30.3 cm or about one foot. It is the term used to measure the…

The smallest semi-circular tile, with a diameter of 7.5 cm. An eave end tile of this size decorated with a comma pattern is…

A shortened form of itomasame 糸柾目. Straight, narrow grained wood. Two examples are Japanese arborvitae, nezuko…

A very narrow, chamfer about 3 mm wide, made by planing the corners of posts. The term has been used from the 17th century…

A rare five-stepped bracket complex found at a temple on Sado 佐渡 Island, Niigata Prefecture.

Also ichiji sanrai 一字三礼, ittō sanpai 一刀三拝. Lit. to worship three times with every stroke. A practice…

Also known as nara ningyō 奈良人形 or narabori 奈良彫. Small wooden sculptures made using a simple, rough-…

Also iwamono 岩物. A paint *enogu 絵具 made from pulverized…

Abbreviated to *gunjō 群青. A dark blue pigment *…

A green pigment *ganryō 顔料 made of malachite. Often abbreviated to *…

A temple hall built into a natural grotto, or a grotto cut from rock high up on the face of a cliff or steep slope. One…

A base for Buddhist images *daiza 台座, made of rock. It is also referred to as…

Also called iza 倚坐, suisokuza 垂足坐, and chōjiza 丁字坐. An image that is seated on a stool or…

Purported founder of the *kabuki 歌舞伎 theatre and subject of 17th…

Also called Hashiriyu Gongen 走湯権現. A deity associated with a hot spring which wells up on Izusan 伊豆山, a hill of 166…

Also Tsutsu izutsu 筒井筒. Lit. a well curb. A painting subject associated with Episode 24 of Ise monogatari…

Lit. snake belly board. The boards lined up under the thick eave ends nokizuke 軒付 of a cypress bark *…

Lit. snake's belly.

1　A cornice. Called nokijabara 軒蛇腹, at the eaves of a building and …

Also called honshirin 本支輪 (main shirin). A short, curved, non-supporting transitional member that connects…

Lit. snake belly ceiling. An open or exposed ceiling composed of curved, parallel rafters, thought to resemble a snake's…

Lit. snake skin. The boards lined up under the thick eave ends nokizuke 軒付 of a cypress bark *…

Sk: yaksa. Evil spirits believed to harm human beings and hinder Buddhist teaching. Usually appear in sculptures as small…

Gravel, small stones, or pebbles. A corrupted form of sazare 細 meaning tiny stones. Jari have been given…

Also hikkōbori 筆耕彫. The engravers or block-carvers of written text woodblocks for printed books. From…

The traditional method of laying or setting tiles on the sheathing *noji 野地 of…

A small cabinet with sliding doors at the bottom of open, often split-level shelves *…

Also called *butsuma 仏間.

1　Small, private buildings or…

Also called chinjisai 鎮地祭; jisai 地祭, jiiwai 地祝, tsuchimatsuri 土祭 or tokoshizume no…

Also called omodaruki 母垂木. A base rafter that extends outward from the roof framework, generally the eave purlin *…

A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a sprite who possesses the elixir of long life…

Commonly known as Jie Daishi 慈恵大師 or Great Master Jie. The posthumous name of Ryōgen 良源 (912-85), abbot at…

Also read chien hikaku. Double eaves *futanoki 二軒, composed of base…

1　A sleeper. The lowermost horizontal beam that spans the width of a bay *…

Also written 地幅石. A long horizontal base stone, sometimes called a sleeper, or a continuous plinth course. It is placed at…

A famous courtesan of Sakai 堺 known for her relationship with the Daitokuji 大徳寺 priest *…