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…

Also referred to as zasei 坐勢 (Sk: asana). A seated position for a Buddhist image. Ancient Indian ascetics used…

A collector's seal, kanzō-in 鑑蔵印, which was impressed on Song and Yuan dynasties paintings *…

Also Kongō Zaō Bosatsu 金剛蔵王菩薩. The deity of Kinpusen 金峰山 in Nara, one of the most important deities of the Japanese…

Lit. "Eight parlor views"; a parody of eight views *hakkei 八景, in which…

A Buddhist image which is seated, as opposed to standing *ryūzō 立像. The…

Gourd-shaped shumon 朱文 style seal introduced into Japan from China during the Song and Yuan dynasties. Today there…

Lit. "paintings of Zen 禅 meetings." Paintings that depict a philosophical dialogue between a Zen priest and a layman,…

A school of Buddhist sculptors *bussho 仏所, who often used the character 'Zen' 善…

Commonly known as Zendō Daishi 善導大師 (Ch: Shandao Dashi, 613-81) or Great Master Zendō . The third patriarch of Pure…

Lit. "Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) painting." A modern and somewhat ambiguous term often used to indicate painting and calligraphy that…

Ch: Chanyueyang Luohan. A type of ink painting of arhats or *rakan 羅漢…

Also abbreviated to zengohagi 前後矧. A method of making a wooden statue where the statue is carved in two separate…

An early type of folding screen *byōbu 屏風, in which panels are individually made…

Lit. "meditation mudra." A mudra or hand gesture *in 印, formed by placing the palms…

Lit. "paintings of Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) occasions." Illustrations of acts (including dialogues) which led to enlightenment. The…

Images of the *Amida 阿弥陀 trinity made in the style of the Amida trinity at Zenkōji 善光寺 in…

Also known as Zenmyō nyoshin 善妙女神. A deity that protects the Kegon 華厳 sect of Buddhism. According to the legend, a…

Lit. "Dragon King Zennyo." The subject of a painting by one of the disciples of *Kūkai 空海…

Lit. "full-size paper." Paper having the same size as that produced in the factory. The size varied according to each period…

The general term used for any art related to the practice of Zen 禅 Buddhism in Japan. Zen flourished in Japan in the…

Lit. "images of patriarchs of Zen 禅 sects." Paintings of Zen patriarchs. Although all schools of Buddhism create images of…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面, representing a young angel, goddess or enlightened woman.…

Also Tōdaiji Zōbussho 東大寺造仏所. A workshop which made statues for Tōdaiji 東大寺 in Nara. In 748, the government set up a…

Government-run workshops making Buddhist statues during the Nara period. Post-9th-century independent and temple-run…

Sk: Virudhaka. A fierce-looking guardian deity *funnusō 忿怒相, believed to…

Inlay. It is also written 象眼 (elephant eye). A decoration technique in which the surface of such materials as metal, pottery…

A portrait of a lay person in formal secular dress. This contrasts with the more numerous portraits of Buddhist priests…

Offertory mask. Cloth or paper masks used in *bugaku 舞楽 in the pieces *…

Also nōnyūhin 納入品, tainai nōnyūhin 胎内納入品, tainai nōnyūbutsu 胎内納入物. Objects found in the…

A patron. A person who requests the building of a Buddhist temple or work of art.

Also zōzōki daiki 造像題記, zōzōmei 造象銘. A record that keeps track of the completion and repair dates of a…

A name given to a sandalwood statue of Shaka Nyorai 釈迦如来 (in the same style as the figure in Seiryōji 清涼寺, Kyoto). See *…

Lit. head light. A nimbus or halo that encircles the head of an image of a Buddhist deity. In the case of sculpture it is…

A yellow pigment *ganryō 顔料, made from the bark of the deciduous…