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…

A pictorial subject taken from Arrowhead, the play from the *kabuki…

A pictorial subject taken from "Yadorigi" ("The Ivy"), Chapter 49 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji…

Lit. "burned brush." A wooden stick with a burned tip. Like charcoal used in western style painting, yakifude is…

A type of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print which shows one or several actors in a stage pose or…

Lit. "picture books illustrating actors." Books that bound together actor prints, but also included theater and stage scenes…

Printed books criticizing actors' skills. Theater reviews were not published in booklet form until 1656 with Yakusha-no-…

Ch: Yaoshan Li'ao. A Zen 禅 painting subject depicting the philosophical debate between the Tang dynasty hermit-priest…

Ch: Yaoshan she chenzhongchen; lit. "Yakusan's Shooting of the Great King of the Big Deers." A Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan)…

Lit. "mountain indigo." Perennial plant 30-40 cm high, Mercurialis leiocarpa Sieb. et zuc., used to make a blue dye…

Also written 楊梅樹. A brown vegetable dye senryō 染料 obtained from the evergreen tree Myrica rubra,…

Also written 大和絵 and 倭絵. A widely used description term which has carried various nuances in different periods, but…

The most commonly used style of mounting hanging scrolls *kakemono 掛物 in…

Also musubitoji 結び綴じ, lit. "knot-binding." The simplest style of book-binding, and usually a type of pouch-binding…

Also read Yamanba. Oni-onna 鬼女 (demonic woman) or yama-onna 山女 (mountain woman) are used occasionally.…

Also written 夜叉付子. A brown vegetable dye senryō 染料 made from the alder tree (Alnus firma), which…

A pictorial subject depicting scenes from the Battle at Yashima, an important engagement in the Genpei Battles Genpei…

1　Lit. "eight bridges." A type of low bridge built over a shallow pond or marsh using wooden planks without…

Western-influenced paintings and prints produced in Japan before the Meiji period, including *…

Western-style painting produced during the Meiji period. Yōga employed the use of western materials such as oil…

A blank, unpainted space. It is considered one of the identifying characteristics of both Chinese and Japanese painting.…

Also bakemono-e 化物絵 and yūrei-e 幽霊絵. *Ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints that depict…

Ch: Yang Guifei (719-56). The famous Chinese beauty and concubine of Emperor Xuanzong (Jp: *…

Carmine, a crimson pigment. An alkaline organometallic compound, taken from the female cochineal insect which lives on…

A pictorial subject based on "The Flute," Yokobue, Chapter 37 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Also Yokohama 横浜 *ukiyo-e 浮世絵. Late ukiyo-e prints which depicted foreigners at the port…

Lit. "reading books." An Edo period woodblock printed novel prevalent from the mid to late Edo period that focused on…

A pictorial subject based on "The Wormwood Patch" Yomogiu, Chapter 15 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

Also yomaiori byōbu 四枚折屏風. A folding screen with four panels. Before the 12th or 13th century, this type of screen…

An area in Mt. Ōmine 大峰, Nara, most famous for cherry blossoms. Important not only as a place of great scenic beauty, but…

The tragic warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune 源義経 (1159-89), whose many exploits both real and legendary are recounted in…

The licensed pleasure and prostitution quarter of Edo. First established in 1617 near Nihonbashi 日本橋 by Shōji Jin'emon…

A pictorial subject in *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 taken from the popular *…

A pictorial subject taken from "Evening Faces" Yūgao, Chapter 4 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

A pictorial subject taken from the "Evening Mist" Yuugiri, Chapter 39 of Genji monogarari 源氏物語 (The…

*ukiyo-e 浮世絵 beauty prints *bijinga 美人画…

An Edo period "Who's Who" of prostitutes in the pleasure districts. The yūjo hyōbanki was one of two major…

Organic pigment. An insoluble paint material *ganryō 顔料 made from animal…

A pictorial subject taken from "The Floating Bridge of Dreams" Yume no ukihashi, Chapter 54 of Genji monogatari…

Lit. "Crescent Moon;" loaded or pulled bow (shaped) moon. A pictorial subject in *ukiyo-e…

Lit. "drifting bow." A pictorial subject depicting an incident at the Battle at Yashima *…

A low class of prostitutes during the Genna 元和 and Kan'ei 寛永 eras (1615-44). Typically, after meeting customers by washing…

Lit. "depictions of amusements." A major category of genre painting *fūzokuga…

Traditional design motifs, used either in single units or repeated to create patterns, based on designs from Heian courtly…

The History and Benefits of the Yūzū Nenbutsu engi. A handscroll theme recounting the early history of the Yūzū…