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

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…

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

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

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…

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

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…

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

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

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…

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

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

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

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 *…

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

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

Also written 内隈. Lit. "interior shading." A technique *kumadori 隈取 in non-…

Also written 内曇. Also called kumogami 雲紙. Abbreviation of uchigumorigami 打曇紙. A type of decorated paper,…

Lit. "fan painting." A painting either directly on a fan *uchiwa 団扇, or on a round format…

Also read dansen. A round or oval fan made of paper or silk pasted over a framework of thin strips of bamboo.…

A modern city in the southern part of Kyoto where the Byōdōin 平等院 (1052) is located. Historically, Uji was a resort for the…

A visual motif in the *yamato-e やまと絵 tradition, depicting the…

Lit. "Battles of the Uji 宇治 River." Two dramatic and decisive battles that took place near the Uji bridge, over the river,…

A small-sized preliminary sketch undertaken by an artist expressly at the request of a patron. These sketches may be…

Also written 有気絵. Woodblock prints or paintings *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 produced for an individual…

Lit. "floating picture." Usually a woodblock print, in which the three-dimensionality of a scene is emphasized by using one…

A pictorial subject taken from "Ukifune" ("A Boat upon the Waters"), Chapter 51 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

Lit. "pictures of the floating world." Paintings and woodblock prints of genre themes developed from the mid-Edo to early…

Currents of Thought on Ukiyo-e, a series of biographies of *ukiyo-e …

Lit. "books of the floating world." Printed books containing illustrated prose stories which developed from the Kamigata…

Marigold, saffron yellow. A bright yellow dye taken from the root stalk of the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa).…

Paintings of horses on pairs of folding screen *byōbu 屏風. Beginning in the Heian…

A standing screen *tsuitate shōji 衝立障子 decorated with horses that was…

Also keima-zu 繋馬図. Paintings of horses tethered in a stable. Although the subject is found in a 13th-century…

A pictorial subject based on "Umegae" ("A Branch of Plum"), Chapter 32 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Also written 暈繝. Also *ungen zaishiki 繧繝彩色, lit. "rainbow coloring." A…

Also written 暈繝彩色. A method of coloring used in painting as well as for decorative motifs in crafts and architecture. Also…

1　Chinese: yunqiwen.
An ancient Chinese decorative design formed from C and S shapes. It is…

School of painters, founded by the 16th-century artist Unkoku Tōgan 雲谷等顔 (1547-1618), who considered themselves to be in the…

Lit. "cloud design." A broad classification of the various designs used to represent clouds. It is known throughout Asia,…

A painting technique used to apply metal foil *haku 箔 to the back…

The hero and title of an ancient tale of a fisherman and his magical journey to a palace beneath the sea. The details vary,…

A technique used to line or back a piece of paper or fabric. Generally, a strong piece of Japanese paper *…

A technique used to apply color to the reverse side of a painting. Pigments applied to the back of one part of a painting to…

1　Painting done with colored lacquer iro-urushi 彩漆, made by mixing pigments in a base of…

A pictorial subject taken from "Usugumo" ("A Rack of Clouds"), Chapter 19 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

1　Also written 薄葉. An extremely thin piece of paper, usually *…

A series of paintings, usually in handscroll format, arranged as if in a poetry contest uta-awase 歌合, where poems…

Lit. "poem-painting."

1　A painting which illustrates the setting described in a Japanese poem, …

Lit. "singing nuns." A type of mid-Edo period prostitute who dressed to resemble Buddhist nuns bikuni and chanted…

Lit. "Utagawa school." The most prolific school of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists in the late Edo…

A hill on the border between the Abe 安部 and Shida 志太 districts of Suruga 駿河 Province (present day Shizuoka Prefecture). A…

A pictorial subject based on "Utsusemi" ("The Shell of the Locust"), Chapter 3 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

A simplification or change in the form of a painting which may occur during the copying process. When the shape or position…

1　Also shiagenuri 仕上げ塗. The final layer applied to a decorative painting sōshoku kōji…