1　A fence around a castle. See *saku 柵.

…

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

Special finishing plane. A smoothing plane used in the final stages of wood preparation to get a glossy surface on timber,…

Also written 縄牀. Also jōton 縄榻. A rough chair, originally from India, with the back or seat wrapped in rope or cord…

Lit. upper house. Principal part of farmhouse structure. The central portion of the cross-section of the structural frame in…

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

1　The posts which support the ends of the principal transverse beams *…

The purlins or plates *keta 桁, supported on the main frame posts *…

Lit. upper seat alcove. Also read kamizadoko. An alcove *tokonoma…

A story or level of a building, used especially in reference to a pagoda. For example, a *…

A roof tile style with a lotus pattern with double layered petals. The additional petals are placed between the leaf sprout…

A layered petal motif with one or more petals superimposed one on top of another. It is found on some pendants *…

The earliest (6th-12th century) Buddhist living quarters for priests' and monks. Arranged outside the sacred area containing…

Abbreviation of Shaka jūdai deshi 釈迦十大弟子. The Ten Chief Disciples of the historical Buddha *…

Ch: jiuniu. Lit. ten bulls. A Zen 禅 (Ch: chan) allegory in which Buddhist training, from first initiation to final…

Also called kasanehozo 重ねほぞ; also ryōhozo 両ほぞ. Lit. a stacked tenon. A tenon with a 2-stepped broad…

Sk: Ekadasamukha. Eleven-headed Kannon; a form of *Kannon 観音 with eleven miniature faces…

A unique, ten-story stone pagoda *sekitō 石塔 at Injōji 引接寺(1386) in Kyoto.…

Ch: shuxia meiren. A painting theme of a beautiful woman under a tree. The subject found throughout Asia may have…

A pattern composed of concentric circles on a pendant *gatō 瓦当 and parallel…

Also read shukōgata tōrō. Also written shikōgata 四光形. A type of lantern with a gently rounded canopy…

A pattern of parallel lines decorating the pendant *gatō 瓦当 of a broad,…

Lit. regular side arrow.

1　An arrow, gun or cannon attack from inside a castle on the left side of…

Also jūni yakusha taishō 十二薬叉大将, jūni shinshō 十二神王. The twelve protective deities *…

Twelve Deities. A group of tutelary deities consisting of various Hindu gods, which was incorporated into Esoteric Buddhism…

Sk: Cundi. Also Juntei Butsumo 准胝仏母, Shichigutei Butsumo 七倶胝仏母, or Butsumo Juntei 仏母准胝. …

Ten Kings. The ten kings of hell who preside at the gates of the underworld, assigning souls to heaven or hell. The Buddhist…

Ch: Shou laoren. A Chinese Taoist god known as the immortal of the Northern Song and also considered the personification of…

A kind of table game played with one king and 16 round, pawn-like piece of paper on each side of a divided board. The board…

Sixteen arhats *rakan 羅漢. The saintly ascetics who gathered at the death and…

Sixteen. A noh mask *nōmen 能面, representing the young Heike 平家…

Also read jūroku zenjin. Abbreviation of Shaka jūroku zenshin 釈迦十六善神 or Shaka sanzon jūroku…

Thirteen Buddhas. A set of thirteen Buddhist deities, including *myōō 明王 (Sk…

A thirteen-storied pagoda. The only wooden thirteen-storied pagoda extant is located at Danzan Jinja 談山神社 (1532) in Nara.…

Lit. a gate of more than one story. Jūsōmon is a gate with a large roof over the entire structure. A balcony,…

A general term for any ornamental band of cloth found on a bodhisattvas *bosatsu…

The decorative pattern of a ten-petalled flower which is used on roof tiles, particularly on round eaves tiles *…

A portrait, sculpted or painted, made during the lifetime of the subject. The most common was a *…

Ch: Wang Xizhi (303-61). A famous Chinese calligrapher of the Eastern Jin period, considered an originator of both the…

A board which is placed on the host's mat *temaedatami 点前畳,…

Large wooden shingles which are about 30 cm wide and are laid from the ridge to the eaves. Where the shingles need to be…

Ch: Huang Renlan. A Chinese immortal who travels many thousands of ri 里 (a ri is approximately 4 km) on…

Ch: Wang Ziqiao. A Zhou dynasty Taoist immortal associated with playing the shō, ō , a traditional reed…

Ch: Wang Zhi (ca. 255-209 BC). A Jin dynasty woodcutter from Quchuan 衢川, who while wandering through the mountains of Guzhou…

Ch: Wang Zhaojun. A beautiful court lady of the Former Han dynasty mistakenly sent to the Huns 匈奴. Her family name was Qiang…

Also akujō 悪尉. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面…

A load-bearing structural member. Refers to any structural element which supports the roof including pillars *…

Architecture introduced at temples of the Ōbaku 黄檗 sect, in the Edo period. This sect is one of the three Zen 禅 sects. The…

Also called wadaruki 輪垂木. An open ceiling found in Buddhist temples of the Ōbaku 黄檗 sect. The architectural style…

Paintings done by Ōbaku 黄檗 (Ch: Huangbo) Zen 禅 monks and their followers. Many modern historians also include religious…

Lit. "large format." A size of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print. The term ōban…

Also simply beshimi べし見; formerly written 閉歯見. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面…

Also called obisando 帯桟戸. A simple wooden door made of thin boards with rails at top and bottom and stiles, left…

Lit. "belt compound." A long narrow castle compound. Obiguruwa were often constructed on the top of an earthen…

Also obiki 尾引. Sleepers about 10 cm sq. that extend horizontally at right angle to posts that are erected on a sill…

A decoration in the form of a lion's head *shigami 獅噛, found on…

A standard large-sized sheet of *hōsho 奉書 paper. Approximately 39 x 53 cm. The…

A outer veranda constructed a step lower than the adjacent floor. It may also be constructed one step lower than a broad…

Lit. "falling stone." Also pronounced otoshi-ishi. One of the trump stones *…

The junction point of a horizontal and diagonal structural member. For example, the point where the bottom of the hip rafter…

Also kiriotoshi 切落.

1　A generic term for a floor that is lower than the main floor of a…

A design incorporating a projection from a major building with a roof ridge *mune…

Lit. "dropped ceiling." Also called otoshitenjō 落し天井. A ceiling in a tea ceremony room above the host's mat *…

A tail rafter. A large rafter which usually extends through the second step of a 3-stepped bracket complex *…

Also called da-itabuki 駄板葺. A shingled roof which has bamboo battens and or stones to hold the shingles in place.…

1　 Lit. "great door." Also called *ōdoguchi 大戸口. The door…

Yellow ochre pigment. Lit. "yellow earth." Made from earth containing hydrated ferric oxide (goethite FeO.OH or limonite…

1　The main entrance to traditional vernacular houses *minka 民家…

Also pronounced ōga. A ripsaw thought to have been introduced to Japan from China at the beginning of the 15th…

Lit. "big fence." Large, continuous fences in distinction to short screen fences *…

Lit. "praying."
1　Structural elements arranged in such a way as to resemble the image of hands joined in…

The roof tiles positioned like hands joined in prayer covering the triangular framework of a Japanese roof structure. Broad…

A peak tile. A semi-cylindrical, elongated, barrel-shaped, hanging tile which covers the broad, concave, eave-end tiles *…

Lit. "large (or full) face pictures." A type of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵, or…

A projecting mould used in metalwork. Moulds used for metalwork were divided into two types: ogata (convex or…

Lit. "male tile." Also written 雄瓦, called *fusegawara 伏瓦, tsutsugawara…

Lit. "male tile." A semi-cylindrical cover tile *marugawara …

Lit. "fan slope." Also ōgikōbai 扇勾配 or miyakōbai 宮勾配 (shrine slope). The concave pitch of a stone…

Lit. "The Fan Target." A pictorial theme connected with a famous incident from the Battle of Yashima *…

Also written 扇子の縄. A castle plan shaped like a folding fan wherein the fortifications are distributed on either side of the…

A fan used to cool or for ceremonial purposes. Generally the same as sensu 扇子, although ōgi generally…

Fan rafters. There are two arrangements: those that radiate from a center point on each side of the building; or those that…

Portraits of the successive kings of Ryūkyū 琉球 (modern-day Okinawa Prefecture).

A hill in the *Sagano 嵯峨野 area, northwest of Kyoto, facing the low mountains of…

Lit. "the imperial visit to Ohara." Also written 小原御幸. A pictorial theme related to the pathos-filled journey of the retired…

1　A mounting for paintings and calligraphy which originated in China. It consists of a scroll with rollers…

A square wooden box with four legs carried as a backpack by mountain ascetic priests, yamabushi 山伏. The interior of…

A pattern drawn on a wall on both sides of a type of post called *kentozuka…

A bottle strut *taiheizuka 大瓶束, with a sculptural decoration called …

Also called kageire ariotoshi 陰入蟻落; ōire arikake 大入蟻掛. A joint made to connect a purlin *…

Also written 追入 or 尾入. A dadoed or housed, angled T-joint, which is used to join beams to posts. A shallow square or…

Lit. "old man." A type of mask used in kyōgen 狂言 plays to represent an old man. The term ōji usually…

Also written 皇子造. A style of construction used for a Shinto shrine sanctuary *honden…

A wall which is completely plastered so that the pillars or posts are not visible. This method is common for the…

1　A style or method of constructing a wall, in which the basic framework for plastering is made on the…

Lit. "hillcastle." Also termed kyūryō jōkaku 丘陵城郭.
1　A castle built on a hillock, oka…

A sukiya style *sukiya-zukuri 数寄屋造 bathhouse, yokushitsu…

Also written 御釜柱. A pillar which is erected opposite the main central support pillar *…

1　A room that abutted the earth-floored area *doma 土間, at its…

1　Charming, or delightful. An approach to the aesthetic indicating a carefree appreciation of objects and…