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 *…

Also written 寂.
1　An idea of beauty particularly important in the tea ceremony and haiku 俳句…

Also sabi 錆. A paste made by mixing powdered burnt clay *tonoko 砥の粉…

When woodblocks are being carved to reproduce pages of handwritten characters, sometimes the point of a small knife will be…

Also written 茶堂口, 茶頭口; also chatateguchi 茶立口, or *katteguchi 勝手口.…

Also called kōetsubon 光悦本 or suminokurabon 角倉本, although some scholars consider each of these names to…

A pictorial subject of an area in the western part of Kyoto city, famous for autumn grasses and singing insects. Besides…

Also called shōjiki 正直. A plumb line with a plumb bob, furiko 振子, at the lower end. The plumb bob is a…

A little used placement of the firebox *ro 炉, in a tea ceremony room *…

Also sagi-no-ashi. Lit. "heron's leg." A type of long, curved leg found on a Chinese style desk, tōzukue…

Also written 佐波理. An alloy of copper containing less than ten percent tin, lead and zinc and of a pale yellowish color. It…

Lit. "narrow petal lotus motif." A motif with as many as twelve or sixteen narrow petals found on some circular pendant…

An octagonal hall at Hōryūji 法隆寺, Nara, which was destroyed by a typhoon in 1050. The structure was rebuilt in 1250. It is…

Paintings based on Saigyō monogatari 西行物語 (The Tale of Saigyō), a fictionalization of the poet-priest…

1　An area temporarily purified to erect temporary buildings and facilities for performing the *…

The name for a group of *ukiyo zōshi 浮世草子 (books of the floating world;…

Ch: suihan sanyou. Lit. "three friends of wintery seasons." A painting theme featuring pine matsu 松, plum…

Also *kandachi 神館, shinkan 神館.
1　At Ise Jingū…

Also Yoshiwara saiken 吉原細見. Annually published guide to the new *Yoshiwara…

An image hall *kondō 金堂 situated to the west of a pagoda in temple grounds.…

Miniature paintings in a detailed style best suited for fans or albums. Two other terms, mitsuga 密画 and saiga…

An eight-legged *hakkyakumon 八脚門, 3-bay wide, 1-entrance gate with a gable…

Lit. "Saimyōji 西明寺-style latticed bamboo door." One type of raised lattice door *…

Lit. "festival pictures." Paintings that originated in folk beliefs and Shinto rituals shinji 神事, mostly related to…

Lit. "Buddhist colorist." An artist who applies colored pigment to the nimbus or pedestal of a Buddhist statue. A …

The application of color to various architectural elements. In the case of paintings, this normally involves the use of…

A painted statue, usually a Buddhist image. Saishikizō are colored over the entire surface of the figure;…

A *bugaku 舞楽 dance and mask *bugakumen…

Also simply saitan 歳旦. A woodblock print commissioned by a poet, or a man of versatile tastes, to give to his…

Also misakadono 御酒殿; the prefix mi 御 is an honorific.
1　A shrine building specific to…

A pictorial subject based on "Sakaki" ("The Sacred Tree"), Chapter 10 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Also sakabashira 逆柱 or sakasabashira 逆さ柱. Lit. "upside down pillar."
1　An upside down…

Also written 盃面戸. Sometimes called goki 呉器 or gokibame 呉器羽目. The space created between small bearing…

A fence supported by posts along its rear side, usually with more than four posts per one bay. The facing boards are placed…

1　Fence. Read ki (also written 城) in the ancient period. A palisade of stakes aligned at regular…

The Sakuheimon is the center gate on the north side of Kyoto Gosho 京都御所, during the end of the Heian period. It can be seen…

Lit. "Treatise on Garden Making." The oldest and most revered Japanese text on garden design, it was probably…

Also read hasama. A loophole or porthole made in the wall of the keep, tower, or parapet to allow a castle to…

Lit. "loophole distribution." The number of loopholes per two meter (one ken 間) interval in a castle. Also refers…

Lit. "fifth month rain." A geometric pattern used for fretwork muntins. The design is inspired by early summer rain, …

A wooden splicing joint used for a beam. The length of the joint is 3x the height of the beam, and the tenon *…

Also read shamon. Lit. "sand crest." The technique of making a pattern or design in sand or gravel. The creation of…

The three types of distances desired for mountains in Chinese ink painting as defined by the famous Academy landscapist of…

The junction points on a door or window frame where the top rail *kamigamachi…

Lit. "three leaves." A decorative pattern carved into the shape of three leaves; used particularly for metal fittings found…

Sanage 猿投 kilns. A group of old kilns in an area stretching from the western area of modern Nagoya 名古屋 city to the northern…

The transverse beams placed in a row at right angle to the large header beams *kabuki…

1　A pictorial subject taken from the auspicious *kabuki 歌舞伎 play which…

Lit. "Chatter of a Mountain Dweller." A two-volume treatise on painting theory by the late Edo artist and Confucian…

Lit. "three great Buddhas." The three largest images in the history of Buddhist statuary in Japan. Originally the …

Lit. "three-stage waterfall." One common type of garden waterfall. Through the arrangement of earth and rocks, the waterfall…

Three horizontal grooves in the neck of a Buddha *nyorai 如来 or bodhisattva *…

A simple door made of vertical planks with horizontal cross members that are about as wide as the vertical ties placed…

1　A structural element or tenon that projects out from the end of a board, post, or beam. Such projecting…

A purlin-bearing bracket arm; one that is inserted into the small bearing blocks *makito…

Also read sankarado. Paneled entrance doors introduced from China in the 13th to 14th century. They are associated…

A pantile that combines a broad concave tile *hiragawara 平瓦 and a semi-…

Also called jigawara 地瓦 because it is a base tile; and kanryakugawara 簡略瓦 because it combines a broad…

Also *sanmon 三門. The most famous example is the very large 21.05 m x 9.72 m gate at Zōjōji 増上寺…

A 3 x 2 bay gate, often 8-legged style *hakkyakumon 八脚門, with entrance…

A building with 3 bays on all four sides, commonly written 3 × 3 bays. The result is usually a square building. However,…