| Title | Contains Image(s) | Description | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|
| kamatsugi 鎌継 | ✓ | A gooseneck tenon and mortise joint. The mortise is cut into one section, and the tenon, with head and neck a single member… |
Architecture, Joints |
| kamaya 釜屋 | ✓ | Also written 竈屋. Lit. cooking room. Either refers to a freestanding structure used for cooking, or a part of a vernacular… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings |
| kamayadate 釜屋建て | A particular type of divided roof style *buntōgata 分棟型, where the raised… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings | |
| 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. |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kamejima 亀島 | Lit. tortoise island. A small island made with several stones that express the head, feet, and tail of a tortoise. Found in… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| kami-e 紙絵 | A pre-13th century term for small paintings executed on paper in the *yamato-e… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kami no jū 上の重 | Lit. upper floor. Refers to the second story of a two-storied structure. *Jū 重… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| Kami-no-midō 上御堂 | Lit. Upper honorable hall. A Buddhist image hall at Hōryūji 法隆寺 (1318) in Nara, rebuilt long after the original hall, built… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| kami 神 | A Shinto deity. Although the word deity may imply a singular definite presence, kami have no fixed number, form or… |
Art History, Iconography | |
| kamidaidokoro 上台所 | Lit. upper kitchen.
|
Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings, Folk Dwellings | |
| kamidana 神棚 | ✓ | An interior shelf *tana 棚, where paper talismans, kamifuda 神札, or… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings |
| kamigamachi 上框 | The top rail or the uppermost horizontal door stile. Also kamizan 上桟. |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kamigata-e 上方絵 | *Ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints from the Osaka-Kyoto area (kamigata 上方 denotes… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kamigata 紙形 | Lit. paper figure. The preliminary underdrawing *shita-e 下絵 for a Kamakura and… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kamihari tenjō 紙貼天井 | A ceiling on which layered paper has been pasted. The bottom, middle, and top layers of paper cover the area between the… |
Architecture, Tea Houses | |
| kaminashijō 髪無尉 | Hairless old man. Also written 上無尉. Alternate name, inarijō 稲荷尉. A nō mask *… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| 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 | |
| Kamo no keiba 賀茂競馬 | A painting subject of horse racing at Kamigamo Jinja 上賀茂神社 in Kyoto. The event was a popular custom held on May 5th (today… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kamogawa-ishi 賀茂川石 | Lit. Kamogawa stone. A type of stone taken from the bed of the upper Kamo River in Kyoto. It was much in demand as garden… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| kamoi 鴨居 | ✓ | A generic term for a head jamb. Unlike the lintel *magusa まぐさ, kamoi… |
Architecture, General Terms |
| kamon 渦文 | Also sentenmon 旋転文. A spiral pattern used in drapery folds on Buddhist statues. Ridges, representing creases in the… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| Kan Butei 漢武帝 | Ch: Han Wudi (159-87 BC). Lit. Emperor Wu of Han. The seventh emperor of the Former Han (Jp: Zenkan 前漢), who ruled from 141-… |
Art History, Painting | |
| 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 | |
| kan in 款印 | A signature *rakkan 落款 or a seal *… |
Art History, Painting | |
| Kan U 関羽 | Ch: Guan Yu (d. 219 CE). A Chinese general. A painting theme and the subject and title of a *… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kan'unjoku 寒雲卓 | ✓ | A type of pitcher shelf *mizusashidana 水指棚. A version of… |
Architecture, Tea Houses |
| kana zōshi 仮名草子 | Lit. book in kana script. A popular literarily form produced between 1600-82, principally in the Kyoto area. These… |
Art History, Painting | |
| 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 | |
| kanagu 金具 | Also kanamono 金物 (metal thing). Metal fittings that are not only functional but often decorative. |
Architecture, Decorations | |
| kaname 要 | A term used for the imaginary center point from which fan rafters *ōgidaruki… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kanawa tsugi 金輪継 | ✓ | An oblique, housed (dadoed), rabbeted, T-shaped, half-blind, tenoned scarf joint. Because both the tenon and mortise are… |
Architecture, Joints |
| Kanazawa hakkei 金沢八景 | Lit. Eight views of Kanazawa. Eight scenic spots around Kanazawa, the southern part of Kuraki 久良岐 in Sagami 相模 Province (… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kanazuchi 金槌 | A carpenter's hammer with an iron head. It differs from the steel double faced hammer *… |
Architecture, Tools | |
| kanbaku zu 観瀑図 | Ch: guanputu. A pictorial theme that features a scholar gazing at a waterfall. The theme probably relates to the poem Ballad… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kanban 看板 | ✓ | A signboard placed outside or affixed to the front of a commercial premises displaying the name of the shop yagō… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings |
| Kanbun bijin 寛文美人 | Lit. beauties of the Kanbun 寛文 era (1661-73). A generic and recently coined term for paintings of beautiful women and men,… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kanbutsu-e 潅仏会 | A ceremony held every year to commemorate Buddha's *Shaka 釈迦 birthday, April 8th… |
Art History, General Terms | |
| kandachi 神館 | A place for Shinto purification rites, as well as a place for priests to go into seclusion for a set amount of time. |
Architecture, Shrines | |
| kane-no-te 矩の手 | An architecutural element which incorporates a right angle. For example, a corridor with a right angle bend is referred to… |
Architecture, Tools | |
| 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 | |
| kanejaku 曲尺 | ✓ | A carpenter's square. It has a long side, about 49 cm, and a short side about 24 cm, and looks like an L shaped ruler. Also… |
Architecture, Tools |
| 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 | |
| kanga 漢画 | Lit. Chinese painting. Several painting styles which developed in Japan after the mid-13th century under the influence of… |
Art History, Painting | |
| Kanga Shinan 漢画指南 | Guide to Chinese Style Painting. A late 18th century treatise on *nanga 南画 by… |
Art History, Painting | |
| Kangakuin 勧学院 | Also omotemon 表門. The front gate of Shūgenji 宗源寺 a subsidiary temple of Hōryūji 法隆寺. It serves as a place for study… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| Kangiten 歓喜天 | Also read Kankiten. Also Shōten/Shōden 聖天. Abbreviation of Daishō kangiten 大聖歓喜天. The elephant-headed… |
Art History, Iconography | |
| kangō shūraku 環濠集落 | A settlement surrounded by a moat. The earliest enclosed settlement appeared about 2000 years ago and is associated with the… |
Architecture, Castles | |
| Kangyō hensō 観経変相 | A transformation scene of the Pure Land *jōdo hensō 浄土変相 based on the… |
Art History, Iconography | |
| kanimendo gawara 蟹面戸瓦 | Also kanimendo 蟹面戸. Lit. crab filler tile. A crab-shaped tile used to cover the gap created by the junction of two… |
Architecture, Roofing Tiles | |
| kanjin 勧進 | 1 To teach and encourage people to follow Buddhist teachings.
|
Art History, Sculpture | |
| Kanjinchō 勧進帳 | A pictorial subject taken from Kanjinchō (The Subscription List), perhaps the best-loved *… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kanjōban 灌頂盤 | A flag, made in cloth and covered with gilt-bronze, used for the Buddhist abhiseka ceremony of sprinkling water on the head… |
Art History, Crafts | |
| kanjōdō 潅頂堂 | Also called kanjōin 潅頂院. The hall used to conduct the ceremony to confer the basic precepts and mystic teachings of… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| kankai-zu 勧戒図 | Ch: quanjietu. Also written 鑑戒図 (Ch: jianjietu). Lit. pictures of advice and admonishment. Paintings based on Confucian… |
Art History, Painting | |
| Kankaimon 歓会門 | The front gate of Shurijō 首里城 in Okinawa Prefecture. It was burned down during World War 2 and rebuilt in 1974. It is an… |
Architecture, Gates | |
| kanmuridana 冠棚 | ✓ | Also called kanmuridai 冠台 or kanmurishoku 冠卓.
|
Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings |
| kanmurigawara 冠瓦 | Roof tiles stacked up on the ridge of a temple or castle roof. Also called *… |
Architecture, Roofing Tiles | |
| kanna 鉋 | A plane, used to shave away the surface of timber to get a smooth finish. In Japan, where most buildings in pre-Meiji… |
Architecture, Tools | |
| Kannon 観音 | Also Kanzeon 観世音, Kanjizai 観自在. The bodhisattva *bosatsu 菩薩 who personifies… |
Art History, Iconography | |
| kannonbiraki tobira 観音開扉 | ✓ | 1 A pair of swing doors *tobira 扉 designed to meet at the… |
Architecture, Folk Dwellings |
| kannondō 観音堂 | ✓ | A Buddhist temple hall dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy *Kannon 観音. Fukushima… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures |
| 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 |
| kannyū 嵌入 | An inset or inlay technique. One example is the eyes in a wooden statue in which the shape of the eye is hollowed out and a… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| Kano-ha 狩野派 | A hereditary school of professional artists, patronized by military governments from the late Muromachi to the early Meiji… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kanpachiga 捍撥画 | A painting depicted on a plectrum guard kanpachi 捍溌, a sheet of leather attached to stringed instruments, such… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kanrin zu 寒林図 | Ch: hanlintu. Lit. pictures of a cold grove. A painting theme featuring a grove of leafless trees in a cold or… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kansen 鐶釧 | Decorative rings on the arms and legs of Buddhist images. The rings are carved from the same material as the image, or are… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| kansha 官社 | 1 Shrines which in the Nara and Heian periods received special government supported status. These shrines… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kanshiki 款識 | Correctly read kanshi かんし. Connoisseurship. Originally referred to engraved inscriptions on Chinese bronzes, but… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kanshinjiyō 観心寺様 | A composite style that includes a mixture of architectural elements from the daibutsu style *… |
Architecture, General Terms | |
| kanshitsu 乾漆 | Also kanshitsuzō 乾漆像, kanshitsu-zukuri 乾漆造. Dry lacquer technique. A technique used to produce… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| kanshō 鑑賞 | Appreciation. To take intuitive pleasure in the total sense of form and expression of content of a work of art. Inherent in… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kanshoku 冠飾 | A general term for the ornamentation and style of Buddhist crowns *hōkan… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| kanshūjigata tōrō 勧修寺形灯籠 | A lantern style based on lanterns found in the Heian period Kanshūji or Kajūji 勧修寺 garden in Kyoto. It is low with a large,… |
Architecture, Lanterns | |
| kansubon 巻子本 | Also kansu 巻子, makimono 巻物 and kansō 巻装. A handscroll or horizontal scroll. A bound-… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kansuryō 監寺寮 | One of the administration offices within the priests' living quarters *kuri 庫裡,… |
Architecture, Buildings, Structures | |
| kantai 冠帯 | Also kanzō 冠繪, tentai 天帯, hōzō 宝繪, tenkantai 天冠帯. The ornamental ribbons which… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| kantan otoko 邯鄲男 | Also kantan. Man from Kantan. A nō mask *nōmen 能面… |
Art History, Sculpture | |
| kantō 間道 | Also written 広東, 漢島, 漢渡, and 閑島. A fine silk striped woven material, perhaps named after the Japanese pronunciation of… |
Art History, Crafts | |
| Kanzan Jittoku 寒山拾得 | ✓ | Ch: Hanshan Shide. Semi-legendary Tang dynasty, Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) eccentrics who were frequently depicted in Chinese and… |
Art History, Painting |
| kanzashi 簪 | A stick type of hair ornament. It may be a single stick or fork-shaped stick. The handle end usually has decoration.… |
Art History, Crafts | |
| kanzōiro 萓草色 | A bright yellowish-orange color. Named after the yellow dye lily flower kanzō 萓草. Kanzō-iro dye was… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kaō 花押 | Also kakihan 書判, lit. written seal mark, or han 判. Specifically designed character representing or… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kappa 河童 | ✓ | Lit. river child. A supernatural water-sprite believed to inhabit Japan's lakes and rivers. The name kappa varies… |
Art History, Painting |
| kappazuri 合羽摺 | Also かっぱ摺 or kappaban かっぱ版; sometimes kōhan 孔版 or katagamizuri 型紙摺. A technique used to apply… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kappitsu 渇筆 | Ch: kebi. Lit. dry brush. Also kohitsu 枯筆 (withered brush) or sappitsu 擦筆 (rubbed brush). An ink… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kara-e mekiki 唐絵目利 | Lit. inspector mekiki 目利 of Chinese painting. The post of official art appraiser for the Tokugawa 徳川 shogunate… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kara-e 唐絵 | Although literally translated to mean Tang dynasty Chinese 'kara 唐' painting, its definition and usage changed with… |
Art History, Painting | |
| kara yakuimon 唐薬医門 | A richly decorated gate with bracket complexes *tokyō 斗きょう, placed on top… |
Architecture, Gates | |
| karabitsu 唐櫃 | A Chinese-style chest used to store clothes, arms, personal effects, sutra scrolls (in this case called kyōkarabitsu… |
Art History, Crafts | |
| karabori 空堀 | ✓ | A dry moat, usually with a V-shaped cross-section called *yagenbori 薬研堀. The… |
Architecture, Castles |
| karadake 唐竹 | Lit. Chinese bamboo. A common type of slender, long-jointed bamboo madake 真竹. It is often used to construct bamboo… |
Architecture, Gardens | |
| 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.
|
Architecture, General Terms | |
| karahafu gegyo 唐破風懸魚 | A type of bargeboard pendant *gegyo 懸魚 found on a Chinese style… |
Architecture, Decorations | |
| 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 |
| karahafu torii 唐破風不鳥居 | ✓ | A unique Shinto gate *torii 鳥居 in Kyoto, called Itsukushima… |
Architecture, Shrines |
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