Skip to main content

JAANUS

  • # (1)
  • a (30)
  • b (12)
  • c (16)
  • d (36)
  • e (23)
  • f (28)
  • g (25)
  • h (144)
  • i (46)
  • j (24)
  • k (231)
  • m (127)
  • n (117)
  • o (35)
  • r (25)
  • s (195)
  • t (126)
  • u (30)
  • w (14)
  • y (48)
  • z (11)
  • (-) General Terms (277)
  • Architecture (259)
  • Art History (21)
  • Document (1)
  • Folk Dwellings (3)
  • Painting (1)
  • Sculpture (2)
  • Tea Houses (1)

Displaying 1 - 100 of 277
Title Contains Image(s) Description Keywords
ibara 茨

Also called iga いが. Lit. cusp.

1 The point where two curved lines or forms meet. The…

Architecture, General Terms
ichiboku kaidan 一木階段

A ladder hewed from a single log during the Yayoi period.

Architecture, General Terms
ichimai biraki 一枚開

A single window or door opening. Also, a single door or window. They may swing on hinges one way, both ways, or slide.

Architecture, General Terms
ichimonji dana 一文字棚

A term used in all parts of Japan in the Edo period, for a straight shelf *tana…

Architecture, General Terms
igeta 井桁

1 A generic term for any group of structural members set in a grid pattern. 

2 The…

Architecture, General Terms
ijō kōbai 居定勾配

Also abbreviated to ijō 居定. The degree of pitch on the underside of a rafter support *…

Architecture, General Terms
ikebana 生け花

Lit. to keep flowers alive. Flower arrangements. Originated in Buddhist flower offerings kuge 供花 from the 6th…

Art History, General Terms
iki いき

The aesthetic ideal of the Edo merchant class during the late 18th and 19th centuries, combining material sensuality and…

Art History, General Terms
inago 稲子

Slip fasteners. The wooden or bamboo pieces used on the reverse side of the overlapped boards of a board-and-batten ceiling…

Architecture, General Terms
inokosasu 豕扠首 ✓

Also sasuzuka sasuzaoshiki 扠首束扠首竿式, *sasuzao 扠首竿, *…

Architecture, General Terms
inubashiri 犬走り

Also written 犬行. Lit. dog run. A narrow inset in wall ramparts, or in an embankment of earth forming a footpath or ledge.…

Architecture, General Terms
inufusegi 犬防木

Also pronounced inubōgi.

1 In temples and shrines, a lattice *…

Architecture, General Terms, Folk Dwellings
inuyarai 犬矢来 ✓

Also called komafusegi 駒防ぎ. Concave screens about 60 cm high and of varying length made of closely-spaced bent…

Architecture, General Terms
ippan zu 一般図

General drawings which reflect all the contents of a building, its plan and design. Such drawings must depict the function…

Architecture, General Terms
ireko-ita 入子板 ✓

Also called *wata-ita 綿板. Thin panels of wood inserted between the rails …

Architecture, General Terms
irigawabashira 入側柱

Also called moyabashira 母屋柱 or 身舎柱. Pillars that are erected inside and parallel to the pillars positioned on the…

Architecture, General Terms
iriguchiwaku 入口枠

A door frame made of a head lintel and vertical door jambs to which doors are attached with hinges.

Architecture, General Terms
irihashibashira 入端柱

Pillars *hashira 柱 at the inner boundary of a pent roof…

Architecture, General Terms
irikawa 入側

1 A corridor or passageway between the main body of a residence and the veranda. It is also found in temple…

Architecture, General Terms
irikawageta 入側桁

Purlins, *keta 桁, placed along the tops of pillars surrounding the…

Architecture, General Terms
irimoya hafu 入母屋破風

The bargeboards on the gable end of a hip-and-gable roof *irimoya yane…

Architecture, General Terms
irimoya yane 母屋屋根

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

Architecture, General Terms
irimoya-zukuri 入母屋造 ✓

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

Architecture, General Terms
irisumi 入隅 ✓

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

Architecture, General Terms
ishibadate 石場建

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

Architecture, General Terms
ishiguchi 石口

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…

Architecture, General Terms
ishiwari 石割

1 The cutting and arrangement of stones.

2 The layout of masonry.

Architecture, General Terms
ita 板

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

Architecture, General Terms
ita ishi 板石

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

Architecture, General Terms
ita ranma 板欄間 ✓

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

Architecture, General Terms
ita tenjō 板天井

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

Architecture, General Terms
itabei 板塀

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

Architecture, General Terms
itabi 板碑 ✓

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

Architecture, General Terms
itabuki 板葺 ✓

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

Architecture, General Terms, Folk Dwellings
itabuki yane 板葺屋根

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

Architecture, General Terms
itachigai 板違 ✓

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

Architecture, General Terms
itadatami 板畳

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

Architecture, General Terms
itago 板子

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

Architecture, General Terms
itajiki 板敷

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

Architecture, General Terms
itakarado 板唐戸 ✓

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

Architecture, General Terms
itame 板目 ✓ 1 A board cut in such a way that the grain lines are not parallel but instead are rather pointed or having irregular wavy… Architecture, General Terms
itanoki 板軒 ✓

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

Architecture, General Terms
itaosae 板押

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

Architecture, General Terms
itomasa 糸柾

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

Architecture, General Terms
itomen 糸面

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

Architecture, General Terms
itsutesaki 五手先

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

Architecture, General Terms
kabe shitaji 壁下地

The framework for a mud-plastered wall. It consists of lath, bamboo crosspieces *…

Architecture, General Terms
kabegaki 壁垣

A generic term for shrine fences *tamagaki 玉垣. A fence built at shrines from…

Architecture, General Terms
kabekomai 壁小舞 ✓

Also written 壁木舞. Thinly split lath set vertically and horizontally to form the framework *…

Architecture, General Terms
kabemochi bashira 壁持柱

Small diameter posts set between two pillars to support horizontal circular laths called kabemawatashi 壁間渡. The…

Architecture, General Terms
kabewatadono 壁渡殿

Lit. walled bridge corridor. An archaic term for a type of corridor that connects two buildings in a Heian period…

Architecture, General Terms
kabuki 歌舞伎

The most popular form of theatre among townspeople in Japan since the early Edo period. The form has its origins in the…

Art History, General Terms
kabuki 冠木

Also 衡木. A horizontal timber, lintel, or crossbar.

1 A lintel characteristic of gates called *…

Architecture, General Terms
kadozuka 角束

A short strut used at the corners of podii *kidan 基壇, or a dais *…

Architecture, General Terms
kaerumata 蟇股 ✓

Frog-leg strut. A strut with legs spread like those of a frog. Kaerumata in the early Nara period developed from an…

Architecture, General Terms
kagami ita 鏡板

Boards or panels planed to a perfectly smooth surface and employed for ceilings or flooring. An example is a thin board…

Architecture, General Terms
kagami no ma 鏡の間

Lit. mirror room. A room separated by a curtain from the passageway hashigakari 橋掛り leading to a noh stage *…

Architecture, General Terms
kagami tenjō 鏡天井 ✓

Also kagamiita tenjō 鏡板天井. Lit. mirror ceiling. A flat ceiling made of smoothly planed boards shiraki…

Architecture, General Terms
kagemori 影盛 ✓

A plastered roof ornament on storehouses *dozō 土蔵. Located at the ends of…

Architecture, General Terms
kagobori 篭彫 ✓

Purfled work. Lit. basket carving. A type of decorative wood carving used on beam projections *…

Architecture, General Terms
kai 階

Floor or storey, and also a counter for floors in a building. For example, nikai 二階 refers to the second floor or…

Architecture, General Terms
kaidaka 階高 The distance from the floor of one story to the floor of the next story. The topmost story is measurement from the floor to… Architecture, General Terms
kaidan 階段

One or more steps composed of a tread dan ita 段板 or fumi ita 踏板 and a riser *…

Architecture, General Terms
kaigata 貝形 ✓

1 A trapezoid.

2 Also called *tsuiji…

Architecture, General Terms
kaikō 開口

Also kaikō ana 開口穴; kaikōbu 開口部. A generic term for an opening made in a wall for a door and window, in…

Architecture, General Terms
kaimono 飼物 Any kind of material used to fill a gap. If the basic material is wood, then wood filler is used. Gaps in stone walls are… Architecture, General Terms
kaiorekugi 貝折釘 ✓

Also written 皆折釘. A large, square, angular nail used for wooden or bamboo fences. Its head is bent at right angles but has a…

Architecture, General Terms
kajū 荷重

Also ni 荷. Lit. load. The downward pressure exerted by the roof structure, purlins, transverse beams, etc. on the…

Architecture, General Terms
kakebana 懸鼻 ✓

Also read kakehana, and written 掛鼻. A decorative nosing *kibana 木鼻…

Architecture, General Terms
kakikubi 欠首

A neck-like part under a bulbous-topped post *giboshi 擬宝珠. It resembles the…

Architecture, General Terms
kaku 閣 ✓

1 A tower or a palace. For example, tenshukaku 天守閣 is the keep or dungeon of a castle. See *…

Architecture, General Terms
kaku 角 Also seikakuzai 正角材. A term used for any square building material. For example post is called kakubashira 角柱. Architecture, General Terms
kaku zukuri 角造

1 A generic term for structural members that are square in cross section. Examples are found on the steps…

Architecture, General Terms
kakugōshi tamagaki 角格子玉垣

Also called kakutamagaki 角玉垣 or *tatehigo tamagaki 竪籤玉垣. A…

Architecture, General Terms
kakurenji 角連子

Lit. square lattice. Lattice that is square in cross section. A single section of lattice is called renjiko 連子子.…

Architecture, General Terms
kakuzai 角材 Any cut timber that is square in cross section.
Architecture, General Terms
kamachi 框

1 The frame, rail or stile of a door, window or sliding screen *shōji…

Architecture, General Terms
Kamakura jidai 鎌倉時代

The Kamakura period (1185-1332) is named for the city in modern Kanagawa Prefecture where Minamoto no Yoritomo 源頼朝 (1147-99…

Art History, General Terms
kame no o 亀の尾 ✓

Lit. tortoise tail. Short, diagonally set ribs with thin wooden strips called jaboko 蛇骨子 or koebi 小海老,…

Architecture, General Terms
kamebara 亀腹

Also called *manjūgata 饅頭形. Lit. tortoise belly.

1 A…

Architecture, General Terms
kami no jū 上の重

Lit. upper floor. Refers to the second story of a two-storied structure. *Jū 重…

Architecture, General Terms
kamigamachi 上框 The top rail or the uppermost horizontal door stile. Also kamizan 上桟.
Architecture, General Terms
kamite 上手

Lit. upper hand. Upper end or high end. The position or seat of higher rank, or the superior position in a hierarchy. In…

Architecture, General Terms
kamoi 鴨居 ✓

A generic term for a head jamb. Unlike the lintel *magusa まぐさ, kamoi…

Architecture, General Terms
Kan'ei bunka 寛永文化

Kan'ei culture. The culture of the Kan'ei era (1624-44) and by extension that of the whole early Edo period *…

Art History, General Terms
kanabakari-zu 矩計図

Sectional details. Also kanabakari 矩計. A detailed drawing of the specific parts of a structure in a scale larger…

Architecture, General Terms
kaname 要

A term used for the imaginary center point from which fan rafters *ōgidaruki…

Architecture, General Terms
kanbutsu-e 潅仏会

A ceremony held every year to commemorate Buddha's *Shaka 釈迦 birthday, April 8th…

Art History, General Terms
kaneguchi no nuki 鐘口貫

A penetrating beam *nuki 貫 that is inserted into the structure of a belfry *…

Architecture, General Terms
kanehō 矩方

A line running at a right angle to another line, or something that moves at a direction of 90 degrees relative to something…

Architecture, General Terms
kanekōbai 矩勾配

The 45 degree pitch of the hypotenuse, the side opposite the right angle, of an isosceles right-angled triangle. A right…

Architecture, General Terms
kannuki 閂 ✓

A gate bar. A heavy piece of timber or iron used to affix a plank door to its structure. The kannuki is slipped…

Architecture, General Terms
kansha 官社

1 Shrines which in the Nara and Heian periods received special government supported status. These shrines…

Architecture, General Terms
kanshinjiyō 観心寺様

A composite style that includes a mixture of architectural elements from the daibutsu style *…

Architecture, General Terms
karado 唐戸

Either double plank doors *itakarado 板唐戸 in a single opening or paneled…

Architecture, General Terms
karadomen 唐戸面 ✓

A molding found on the corners of pillars, sills, etc, often used on paneled doors such as *…

Architecture, General Terms
karagaki 唐垣

Lit. Chinese fence. Also written 韓垣 meaning a Korean fence.



1 A generic name for an ancient…

Architecture, General Terms
karahafu 唐破風 ✓

An undulating bargeboard. The shape of a karahafu flows downward from the top center with convex-curves on each…

Architecture, General Terms
karaishiki 唐居敷 ✓

Also pronounced karaijiki. An abbreviationof kara-ishishiki 唐石敷.



1 A thick…

Architecture, General Terms
karakami shōji 唐紙障子

Also called *karakami 唐紙. A term used in the late 19th century for opaque…

Architecture, General Terms

Pagination

  • Current page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Next page ››
  • Last page Last »

Contributor Login

JAANUS is the on-line Dictionary of Japanese Architectural and Art Historical Terminology compiled by Dr. Mary Neighbour Parent.

Originally built by the Atsumi International Scholarship Foundation, it is now hosted and maintained by the Media Center for Art History at Columbia University