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  • (-) General Terms (255)
  • Architecture (237)
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Displaying 1 - 100 of 255
Title Contains Image(s) Description Keywords
jabara ita 蛇腹板 ✓

Lit. snake belly board. The boards lined up under the thick eave ends nokizuke 軒付 of a cypress bark *…

Architecture, General Terms
jabara 蛇腹

Lit. snake's belly.

1 A cornice. Called nokijabara 軒蛇腹, at the eaves of a building and …

Architecture, General Terms
jabara shirin 蛇腹支輪 ✓

Also called honshirin 本支輪 (main shirin). A short, curved, non-supporting transitional member that connects…

Architecture, General Terms
jabara tenjō 蛇腹天井 ✓

Lit. snake belly ceiling. An open or exposed ceiling composed of curved, parallel rafters, thought to resemble a snake's…

Architecture, General Terms
jabaragawa 蛇腹皮

Lit. snake skin. The boards lined up under the thick eave ends nokizuke 軒付 of a cypress bark *…

Architecture, General Terms
jari 砂利

Gravel, small stones, or pebbles. A corrupted form of sazare 細 meaning tiny stones. Jari have been given…

Architecture, General Terms
jidaruki 地垂木

Also called omodaruki 母垂木. A base rafter that extends outward from the roof framework, generally the eave purlin *…

Architecture, General Terms
jien hikaku 地円飛角 ✓

Also read chien hikaku. Double eaves *futanoki 二軒, composed of base…

Architecture, General Terms
jifuku 地覆

1 A sleeper. The lowermost horizontal beam that spans the width of a bay *…

Architecture, General Terms
jifuku-ishi 地覆石

Also written 地幅石. A long horizontal base stone, sometimes called a sleeper, or a continuous plinth course. It is placed at…

Architecture, General Terms
jifuku nageshi 地覆長押 Also jinageshi 地長押. A non-penetrating tie beam that is shaped to fit snugly around the base of a pillar.
Architecture, General Terms
jigyō 地業

Also 地形 chikei. The preliminary foundation work on a building. Materials for this include: rubble *…

Architecture, General Terms
jikuana 軸穴

Also 軸孔; jikuzuriana 軸吊穴; jiku uke 軸受; tobira jikuana 扉軸穴. The socket into which the pivot hinge…

Architecture, General Terms
jikubu 軸部

The framework or body of a building between the foundation and the roof structure. In traditional architecture it includes…

Architecture, General Terms
jikuzuri 軸吊 ✓

Also written 軸釣, 軸摺. Pivot hinge. A metal covered wooden-core pivot inserted into a socket *…

Architecture, General Terms
jinuki 地貫

Also called shimonuki 下貫. A penetrating tie beam at the base of a pillar or a tie beam beneath a building's…

Architecture, General Terms
jisumigi 地隅木

A base hip rafter found at the corners of a roof. Ordinary rafters *jidaruki…

Architecture, General Terms
jizō gōshi 地蔵格子

A latticed door made with both horizontal and vertical laths at the same surface level. There are no recessed laths nailed…

Architecture, General Terms
jō 畳

Also written 帖.

1 A counter for screens *byōbu 屏風 and…

Architecture, General Terms
Jōdokyō bijutsu 浄土教美術

Art of the Pure Land faith. Originating in the Nara period, Pure Land Buddhism is a more personal form of the faith than…

Art History, General Terms
Jōgan gishiki 貞観儀式

The Jōgan gishiki is a ten volume collection of ceremony regulations compiled by Fujiwara Ujimune 藤原氏宗 by order of…

Architecture, General Terms
Jōmon jidai 繩文時代

Lit. cord-mark period. The Jōmon period ran from ca. 10,000 BC-ca. 300 BC. The period takes its name from the decoration on…

Art History, General Terms
jōsei kidan  上成基壇 ✓

The upper level of a two-stepped podium *nijū kidan 二重基壇. The lower level is…

Architecture, General Terms
jōyabari 上屋梁

Principal transverse beam. The beam that receives the diagonal braces at the end of a gable roof. It also supports the ridge…

Architecture, General Terms
kabe shitaji 壁下地

The framework for a mud-plastered wall. It consists of lath, bamboo crosspieces *…

Architecture, General Terms
kabegaki 壁垣

A generic term for shrine fences *tamagaki 玉垣. A fence built at shrines from…

Architecture, General Terms
kabekomai 壁小舞 ✓

Also written 壁木舞. Thinly split lath set vertically and horizontally to form the framework *…

Architecture, General Terms
kabemochi bashira 壁持柱

Small diameter posts set between two pillars to support horizontal circular laths called kabemawatashi 壁間渡. The…

Architecture, General Terms
kabewatadono 壁渡殿

Lit. walled bridge corridor. An archaic term for a type of corridor that connects two buildings in a Heian period…

Architecture, General Terms
kabuki 歌舞伎

The most popular form of theatre among townspeople in Japan since the early Edo period. The form has its origins in the…

Art History, General Terms
kabuki 冠木

Also 衡木. A horizontal timber, lintel, or crossbar.

1 A lintel characteristic of gates called *…

Architecture, General Terms
kadozuka 角束

A short strut used at the corners of podii *kidan 基壇, or a dais *…

Architecture, General Terms
kaerumata 蟇股 ✓

Frog-leg strut. A strut with legs spread like those of a frog. Kaerumata in the early Nara period developed from an…

Architecture, General Terms
kagami ita 鏡板

Boards or panels planed to a perfectly smooth surface and employed for ceilings or flooring. An example is a thin board…

Architecture, General Terms
kagami no ma 鏡の間

Lit. mirror room. A room separated by a curtain from the passageway hashigakari 橋掛り leading to a noh stage *…

Architecture, General Terms
kagami tenjō 鏡天井 ✓

Also kagamiita tenjō 鏡板天井. Lit. mirror ceiling. A flat ceiling made of smoothly planed boards shiraki…

Architecture, General Terms
kagemori 影盛 ✓

A plastered roof ornament on storehouses *dozō 土蔵. Located at the ends of…

Architecture, General Terms
kagobori 篭彫 ✓

Purfled work. Lit. basket carving. A type of decorative wood carving used on beam projections *…

Architecture, General Terms
kai 階

Floor or storey, and also a counter for floors in a building. For example, nikai 二階 refers to the second floor or…

Architecture, General Terms
kaidaka 階高 The distance from the floor of one story to the floor of the next story. The topmost story is measurement from the floor to… Architecture, General Terms
kaidan 階段

One or more steps composed of a tread dan ita 段板 or fumi ita 踏板 and a riser *…

Architecture, General Terms
kaigata 貝形 ✓

1 A trapezoid.

2 Also called *tsuiji…

Architecture, General Terms
kaikō 開口

Also kaikō ana 開口穴; kaikōbu 開口部. A generic term for an opening made in a wall for a door and window, in…

Architecture, General Terms
kaimono 飼物 Any kind of material used to fill a gap. If the basic material is wood, then wood filler is used. Gaps in stone walls are… Architecture, General Terms
kaiorekugi 貝折釘 ✓

Also written 皆折釘. A large, square, angular nail used for wooden or bamboo fences. Its head is bent at right angles but has a…

Architecture, General Terms
kajū 荷重

Also ni 荷. Lit. load. The downward pressure exerted by the roof structure, purlins, transverse beams, etc. on the…

Architecture, General Terms
kakebana 懸鼻 ✓

Also read kakehana, and written 掛鼻. A decorative nosing *kibana 木鼻…

Architecture, General Terms
kakikubi 欠首

A neck-like part under a bulbous-topped post *giboshi 擬宝珠. It resembles the…

Architecture, General Terms
kaku 閣 ✓

1 A tower or a palace. For example, tenshukaku 天守閣 is the keep or dungeon of a castle. See *…

Architecture, General Terms
kaku 角 Also seikakuzai 正角材. A term used for any square building material. For example post is called kakubashira 角柱. Architecture, General Terms
kaku zukuri 角造

1 A generic term for structural members that are square in cross section. Examples are found on the steps…

Architecture, General Terms
kakugōshi tamagaki 角格子玉垣

Also called kakutamagaki 角玉垣 or *tatehigo tamagaki 竪籤玉垣. A…

Architecture, General Terms
kakurenji 角連子

Lit. square lattice. Lattice that is square in cross section. A single section of lattice is called renjiko 連子子.…

Architecture, General Terms
kakuzai 角材 Any cut timber that is square in cross section.
Architecture, General Terms
kamachi 框

1 The frame, rail or stile of a door, window or sliding screen *shōji…

Architecture, General Terms
Kamakura jidai 鎌倉時代

The Kamakura period (1185-1332) is named for the city in modern Kanagawa Prefecture where Minamoto no Yoritomo 源頼朝 (1147-99…

Art History, General Terms
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.

1 A…

Architecture, General Terms
kami no jū 上の重

Lit. upper floor. Refers to the second story of a two-storied structure. *Jū 重…

Architecture, General Terms
kamigamachi 上框 The top rail or the uppermost horizontal door stile. Also kamizan 上桟.
Architecture, General Terms
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
kamoi 鴨居 ✓

A generic term for a head jamb. Unlike the lintel *magusa まぐさ, kamoi…

Architecture, General Terms
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
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
kaname 要

A term used for the imaginary center point from which fan rafters *ōgidaruki…

Architecture, General Terms
kanbutsu-e 潅仏会

A ceremony held every year to commemorate Buddha's *Shaka 釈迦 birthday, April 8th…

Art History, General Terms
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
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
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
kansha 官社

1 Shrines which in the Nara and Heian periods received special government supported status. These shrines…

Architecture, General Terms
kanshinjiyō 観心寺様

A composite style that includes a mixture of architectural elements from the daibutsu style *…

Architecture, General Terms
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.



1 A generic name for an ancient…

Architecture, General Terms
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
karaishiki 唐居敷 ✓

Also pronounced karaijiki. An abbreviationof kara-ishishiki 唐石敷.



1 A thick…

Architecture, General Terms
karakami shōji 唐紙障子

Also called *karakami 唐紙. A term used in the late 19th century for opaque…

Architecture, General Terms
karaki 唐木

Also pronounced tōboku; also meiboku 銘木. Timber from the tropics including red sandalwood (rosewood…

Architecture, General Terms
karasu tobi 烏鳶

Also written 烏飛び.

1 A set of fire fighting equipment installed on the roof ridge of an urban…

Architecture, General Terms, Folk Dwellings
karasugami 烏紙 Lit. crow paper. Very black paper used under straw mats *tatami 畳.
Architecture, General Terms
kasa-ishi 笠石 Coping stones. A finish on the tops of fences and stone walls to protect them from weathering. Also used on the tops of the… Architecture, General Terms
kasa-ita 笠板

1 A crowning board. Similar to the lid placed at the top of storage boxes for rain shutters *…

Architecture, General Terms
Kasei bunka 化政文化

The culture of the Bunka 文化 (1804-18) and Bunsei 文政 eras (1818-30), and by extension, that of the late Edo period as a whole…

Art History, General Terms
kashiranageshi 頭長押

A horizontal, non-penetrating head beam nailed along the outside and inside of the top face of pillars. If the nails show,…

Architecture, General Terms
kashiranuki 頭貫 ✓

Horizontal head penetrating tie beams that are connected to the tops of pillars to make them secure. These tie beams may be…

Architecture, General Terms
kasugai 鎹 ✓

A cleat. A strip of metal or wood driven into two members to hold them together securely. A metal cleat that is bent at each…

Architecture, General Terms
kasumi 霞 ✓

1 A pattern representing mist, often stylized into shapes like the ideographs 工 or 王. It is used as a…

Architecture, General Terms, Art History, Painting
kata-ita 形板

Also written 型板. A template. Boards cut with designs that can be traced onto members that require moldings. For example, the…

Architecture, General Terms
katabiki shōji 片引障子 ✓

Also katahiki shōji. A single, horizontally sliding translucent screen *shōji…

Architecture, General Terms
katabikido 片引戸

Lit. one-way pull door. A single leaf sliding door that is pulled left and right to open and close. There are two sliding…

Architecture, General Terms
katabiraki 片開

Lit. single swinging door. A rotating door katabirakido 片開戸, or window katabirakimado 片開窓, that…

Architecture, General Terms
katamen-zukuri 片面造

A construction method that uses half brackets on top of the corners in the inner worship sanctuary *…

Architecture, General Terms
katanagare 片流

Also *nagare 流. The slope, in one direction, of one side of a…

Architecture, General Terms
katanaka 片中

A common abbreviation for katanakazumi 片中隅. The point that indicates 1/4 of the entire length of a structural…

Architecture, General Terms
kataorido 片折戸

A folding door that is hinged to a single gate post. When the leaf attached to the gate post is pulled closed, the folding…

Architecture, General Terms
katōmado 火灯窓 ✓

Also written 花頭窓. A synonym for genjimado 源氏窓. The name is derived from the window in the room called Genji-no-ma…

Architecture, General Terms
katsura 葛

The building material, such as rough or dressed stone, that forms the horizontal edge of a podium *…

Architecture, General Terms
katsura-ishi 葛石

Also pronounced kazura-ishi; also written 桂石.



1 Curbstones or edging stones, also…

Architecture, General Terms
kawabashira 側柱

Also pronounced gawabashira. The pillars or posts placed on the perimeter of a building to form the basic framework…

Architecture, General Terms

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JAANUS is the on-line Dictionary of Japanese Architectural and Art Historical Terminology compiled by Dr. Mary Neighbour Parent.

Originally built by the Atsumi International Scholarship Foundation, it is now hosted and maintained by the Media Center for Art History at Columbia University