Lit. first: Mt Fuji; second: hawks; third: eggplant. A tradition which holds that these objects, seen in order in the first…

Also called ichiboku chō 一木彫 or ichiboku chōsei 一木彫成. Antonym of *…

A variety of small, decidated mandala *besson mandara 別尊曼荼羅 centered on…

Lit. One-Syllable Golden Wheel. Also read Ichiji konrin and also known as Kinrin Butchō 金輪仏頂 (Golden-…

Also ichimaizuri 一枚摺. Lit. single-sheet print. A single *ukiyo-e 浮世絵…

Also ishidatami 石畳 or *ishidatamimon 石畳文, danshichi 団七…

Lit. one mon picture. A small-sized woodblock print, usually depicting a courtesan or actor, printed only in black…

A printing technique for producing graduated tones (shading) on woodblock prints *ukiyo-…

1　Two strips of fabric directly above and below a painting measuring the exact width of the painting,…

A pictorial subject depicting scenes from the Battle at Ichinotani, a decisive confrontation in the Genpei war Genpei…

Also written 違駄天. The Indian deity Skanda, son of Shiva and general of his army, who became a protector of the Dharma in…

Also ikarakuri. A method of casting metal statues by joining several sections. In the case of a large statue it was…

Iga 伊賀 ware. A stoneware ceramic made in Iga (now Maruhashira 丸柱 village), Mie Prefecture and in a few nearby villages. The…

A compositional method used to show successive events within a unified background, dōzu 同図, capturing the same…

Repairing a hole or crack in a metal object. There are two methods: 1) crack in a metal statue or vessel is…

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

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

One horned hermit. A *noh mask *nōmen…

A triad of Buddhist statues arranged in front of a large nimbus *kōhai 光背, that…

An abbreviation of Ikkyū Zenji 一休禅師, the Zen 禅 priest Ikkyū (1394-1481) of the *…

Ch: Yushanzhu. Lit. Master of Mt. Yu (Jp: Ikuzan 郁山). A Chinese Chan (Jp: Zen 禅) monk from Hunan (Jp: Konan 湖南)…

Imari ware. A general term for porcelain from the Arita 有田 region of Saga Prefecture, but not including the Kakiemon 柿右衛門…

A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a young man of noble birth. Very similar to *…

A school of Buddhist sculptors *busshi 仏師, based in Kyoto, active from the late…

Also inzō 印相 also read insō, shu-in 手印, and mitsu-in 密印. Sk: mudra. A hand gesture…

A type of Buddhist print design made with a stamp. A seal, usually about 10 cm or smaller, is engraved with the image of a…

Ch: Yinzhong baxian. A painting subject based on the poem Yinzhong baxiange (Jp: Inchū hassenka…

A name found in seals applied to many works by Tawaraya Sōtatsu 俵屋宗達 (? - 1640?) and by members of his school, both in…

Also shizume ukibori 沈め浮彫. Hollow relief carving. An inscription or motif hollowed out of a surface using a burin…

A collection of seal impressions gathered into book form. Collections of Chinese seals from the Zhou and Qin dynasties are…

Lit. seal caddy. A tiered rectangular or circular container used originally for seals but later for medicines and other…

A seal stamp carved with characters or pictographs which serves as proof or certification when pressed on a vessel, utensil…

Ch: yuantihua. Lit. academy style painting. A type of Chinese painting associated with the Imperial Court…

A dog-chasing event at which warriors on horseback scored points by shooting padded arrows at a running dog. The subject was…

The number of completed woodblock prints *ukiyo-e 浮世絵, (including all…

Commonly known as Ippen Shōnin 一遍上人 or St. Ippen (1234-89). The founder of the Ji 時 sect. From Iyo 伊予 Province (modern Ehime…

Ch: yipin. Also ikkaku 逸格 (Ch: yige). Lit. the Untrammeled Class. A category or ranking of…

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

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 pronounced irozashi or written 色指し.

1　Also irogaki 色書き or irowake…

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…

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

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

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

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

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

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…

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

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…

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 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…

1　A shell, especially mother-of-pearl, inlay technique commonly used for lacquer ware *…

Ch: Luofuxian. The story and pictorial theme of an immortal on Mt. Luofu 羅浮山 (Jp: Rafusen) and the spirit…

Spiral shaped curls of hair, like snail-shells, on the head of a *nyorai…

Lit. "Amida with welcoming descent mudras." A figure of *Amida 阿弥陀 with hand…

Lit. "welcoming mudra." A mudra or hand gesture *in 印 in which the forefinger,…

Painted images of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, such as *Shaka 釈迦, *…

Ch: Lanzan weiyu 懶瓚煨芋. A Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) painting subject depicting the late 8th century Chinese Zen priest Lanzan…

Arhat. Ch: luohan, Sk: arhan. Abbreviation of arakan 阿羅漢, a translation of the Sk. term arhan…

An abbreviation of the term rakusei kanshiki 落成款識. Lit. "inscription cast into ancient bronze vessels at…

Paintings of scenes in and around Kyoto. Famous sites, festivals and activities within the capital rakuchū 洛中…

Also written 楽書. Graffiti or scribblings. The earliest examples in Japan are the scribblings in the margins or on the backs…

Raku 楽 ware. A light weight ceramic ware developed in Kyoto in the Momoyama period and particularly prized in the…

A net-like ornament strung with jewels or precious metals and hung from the canopy *…

Ch: lanyemiao. Lit. "orchid-leaf drawing." A style of ink-painting using fluid, modulated lines that resemble the…

The technique whereby bamboo strips are woven into shapes and coated with lacquer. Also called kagoji 籠地 (basket…

Ch: Lanting qushui. Lit. "meandering stream and orchid pavilion." A painting theme which refers to a gathering held…

Transliteration of Sanskrit raksasa, a term for demons in general, but which may also be divided into three classes…

Ch: Ling Zhaonu. Raised by her aged parents as a devout Buddhist, this semi-legendary daughter of Tang dynasty lay Buddhist…

A set of books from which the larger portion is missing; the odd volume or smaller portion (i.e., several pages) of a larger…

Ch: Lingyun Guanhua. The Tang dynasty Zen 禅 priest Lingyun Zhiqin (Jp: Reiun Shikin 霊雲志勤), a disciple of Weishan Lingyu (Jp…

A long piece of paper or board the same length as *zenshi 全紙 (approximately 135…

A piece of paper, three-quarters the size of *zenshi 全紙. When a…

Lit. "lotus petal."
1　A pendant *gatō 瓦当, found on semi-…

Also renge karakusa 蓮華唐草. Lit. "lotus pattern." A decorative floral and vine design motif that originated in China…

Also renza 蓮座. Lit. "Lotus base" (Sk: padmasana). A dais for a Buddhist image *…

Also *shumon 珠文. A design pattern that uses circles to represent pearls which…

The central section of a lotus flower pedestal *rengeza 蓮華座 on which a Buddhist image usually…

A manner of representing drapery folds in Buddhist sculpture. It consists of either 

1) a high…

Also tetsuyōsō 綴葉装 or retsuyōsō 列葉装.
A multisection book. A type of Japanese book-binding. The…

Ch: Li Bai (701-62). One of the two most famous poets of the early Tang dynasty along with Du Fu (Jp: *…

Ch: Li Guang sheshi. Lit. "Li Guang shooting a rock." The Han dynasty archer Li Guang (Jp: Ri Kō 李広) who, on a…

Hanging scrolls *kakemono 掛物 in a set of two or more. Each…

Ch: Lishi. A gigaku mask *gigakumen 伎楽面…

The Six Canons or Principles, thought to be essential for the appreciation of Chinese painting. They were set out in the…