A gate located opposite the Shimizu 清水 moat (rebuilt 1658 ) at Edo-jō 江戸城, constructed in the *…

The lowest story of a two or more storied structure.

A toilet for servants. The toilet used by the elite or by the master in merchants housing was called jōchōzu 上手水.…

Lit. "lower kitchen."

1　The outermost part of the kitchen that functioned as a service zone in the…

Also called shimozan 下桟. The bottom piece on paneled doors *karado 唐戸…

1　A room in the front *shimote 下手 corner of the earth-floored…

Also koshinageshi 腰長押.

1　A non-penetrating tie beam *…

Also pronounced getai. The lower, flat or slanted part of the rim on a broad, concave eave-end tile *…

Lit. "lower hand." A position or seat of lower rank, or comparatively inferior position in a hierarchy. In traditional…

One of the residences granted to daimyō 大名 by the Edo government, as part of the system where feudal lords…

1　The seat of lowest status in a reception room *zashiki 座敷.…

Also *miei 御影, *eizō 影像…

Grades of formality in the method of preparing tea temae 点前. The terms originate in the three styles of…

Also called shin-no-hashira 心の柱, imibashira 忌柱 or 斎柱, or shin-no-mihashira 真の御柱. Non-structural,…

A garden fence with penetrating ties *nuki 貫 that run horizontally from one…

Also written 真. The center, core, heart, or pith of a log, pillar or wall. When expressing a distance from one pillar center…

A grouping of three stones, carefully balanced to resemble the character shina 品. The stone arrangement is…

Also written 真柱; called satsu 擦 or 刹. Lit. "heart pillar." The central pillar or shaft that forms the axis of a…

Centering. The center point of a line on a wooden structural member, as for example a pillar *…

A style of aristocratic mansions completed in the mid-10th century in the capital Kyoto, Heian-kyō 平安京. One of the main…

Lit. "new hall." Several of Japan's temple complexes include a building known as shindō. One of the most famous is…

1　A purlin that is placed directly across the tops of pillars *hashira…

A wooden core, used inside a clay or lacquer statue, or when casting a metal statue. It served as a support or as an aid to…

Lit. "eight patriarchs of the Shingon sect." The founders of Esoteric Buddism mikkyō 密教. These mythical and…

Also called Shingondō 真言堂, Shūhōin 修法院 or Mandara dōjō 曼荼羅道場. Lit. "the mantra hall." A hall…

Also tsuizen-e 追善絵. Buddhist memorial pictures. In the 19th century, obituary pictures were printed and sold to…

An alternative term for *nema 寝間. Also called nedokoro, nedoko…

A traditional Japanese method of constructing a plastered wall. The framing for the wall is set between pillars that remain…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a vengeful ghost, similar to *…

Lit. "true view pictures." A type of landscape painting based on naturalistic depiction of a particular place. The term…

Lit. "body light." The light believed to be emitted from the body of Buddha. Expressed on Buddha and bodhisattva figures in…

A special stable to house the sacred horse offered to a shrine by the imperial family or a nobleman. The most famous is that…

Also futabashira torii 二柱鳥居. A generic name for a Shinto gate *torii…

An ancient style of Shinto shrine architecture used especially for the main sanctuary *…

A square beam that has a lengthwise section cut out of it. The cut reaches the center of the log and is made to prevent…

Lit. "deity gate." Any type of gate found at a shrine, excluding the gate-like entrance to the sacred ground of a Shinto…

Abbreviation of Shinnō hajinraku 秦王破陣楽 (Victorious Dance of King Shin), also known as Shinkō hajinraku 神功破陣楽. A *…

Ch: Shennong. The second of the legendary Three Emperors (Ch: sanhuang, Jp: sankō 三皇) credited…

1　The upper part of a timber that is cut diagonally on each side in order to form a peak. In cross section…

Shino 志野 ware. One of the best known of the Mino wares *minoyaki 美濃焼, first…

Offerings made at shrines to Shinto gods *kami 神. The most sacred…

A Shinto shrine building where winter and summer clothing are sewn and offered to the deities. Some scholars believe that…

Also read Shiragi Myōjin and Shinra Zenjin 新羅善神. The deity that protects Miidera 三井寺 (Onjōji 園城寺) at the…

An abbreviation of Shinran Shōnin 親鸞聖人 (1173-1262), the founder of the New Pure Land sect, Jōdo shinshū…

Lumber cut from sapwood, the living part of a tree trunk, or cut from sizable limbs attached to the dead heartwood. Timber…

Lit. "tree of immortals." A tree associated with Mt. Penglai *Hōraisan 蓬莱山,…

Also called gokūsho 供御所 or goryōya 御料屋; also nieden or niedono 贄殿. The place where…

1　Also shusha 朱砂, tansha 丹砂, tanshu 丹朱. Cinnabar, mercuric sulphide HgS. A…

The distance from the center of one pillar *hashira 柱 to the center of the…

Also called sasso 擦礎. The base stone for the central pillar *shinbashira…

Lit. "body of the *kami 神." A sacred object which is worshiped as a…

Shinto art. The art used in the worship of Shinto deities *kami 神. The term does…

A bugaku dance and mask depicting a clown face. Classification (for terms see *…

The junction of two lengths of a purlin that are set into the top of a post. The line of the joint is centered to coincide…

Heartwood. The deep pith of a tree trunk or limbs. It is dark and sometimes redder than the surrounding sapwood *…

A lantern type that was designed after the Edo period for exclusive use for votive lights at shrines; it is not used for…

An image, either in sculpture or painting, of a deity *kami 神 in its Shinto or…

Also read shisori or also sōzori 総反. An eave that curves gradually upward from its mid point towards the…

1　A king post. A generic term for a roof strut, koyazuka 小屋束, that rests upon a transverse beam *…

The center of a timber indicated with a black line made by an inked marking string called sumi-ito 墨糸 or *…

1　Another name for *sekiō 石黄, a yellow pigment made from…

Lit. "brinemaidens." Women who worked hauling brine to make salt. In Japanese art, shiokumi often indicates the…

Also written 紫折戸. Lit. "broken branch door." A type of wicket *kido 木戸 used at…

Lit. "salt glazed tile." A process used to frost-proof roofing tiles. A small quantity of salt is thrown on to the…

Technique of applying gold foil to the surface of a statue or vessel. Most often found on Buddhist statues, especially *…

Also called shiribasami tsugi 尻挟継 or obasami tsugi 尾鋏継. A blind, stubbed, housed, rabbeted, oblique, scarf…

A rod used by a priest to discipline students practicing Zen 禅 meditation. Made of split bamboo covered with black lacquer,…

Lacquered leather. Untanned skins of cow, wild pig or deer are softened by soaking, wrapped around a mold to dry in the sun…

Enamel, cloisonne or champleve. A decorative technique where areas of enamel are separated by metal dykes or wires. Usually…

Lit. "a pillar lavishly decorated with cloisonne." Pillars embellished with a variety of materials and techniques: intricate…

A geometric design pattern which may be described alternatively as four spindles arranged in a circle with ends touching, or…

A line made on timber using a tool with a needle-like point.

Lit. "white-brown color." Also shiracha 白茶. A light brown color.

A style of Buddhist sculpture made during the period of Korean history when the Silla dynasty (Jp: Shiragi 新羅) defeated the…

Lit. "shirakawa stone." A type of granite quarried from the Shirakawa 白川 area north of Kyoto. Soft and easily…

Also written 白木柱, pronounced shiroki bashira. A tree trunk with its bark removed and used as a pillar. Its surface…

Also written 白木 and pronounced shiroki. A generic term for a natural timber that has been stripped of its bark…

Also kijizō 素地像. A wooden statue with a natural wood surface. Shirakizō may be a Buddhist or Shinto…

To paint a surface with plaster *shikkui 漆喰, or a plastered surface.

1　The upper end of a roof tile. Also referred to as *kawarajiri…

Also called sedo 背戸. Backdoor, rear door of a building or a stable.
Also written 尻戸. The doors that constitute…

A nail or spike driven through a hole at the rear of a roof tile yanegawara 屋根瓦 to prevent it from slipping. In…

Also written 枝輪. A short, curved, non-supporting member that forms a diagonal transition between two parallel horizontal…

Also read shira-e byōbu. A folding screen bearing motifs painted in ink or mica *…

The process of castle construction, from site selection to the layout of the compound. Early modern military technicians…

1　A white, finishing coat of plaster *shikkui 漆喰 applied to a wall. It…

Also pronounced *shiraki bashira; also written 素木柱. A tree trunk…

Also goryō torii 御陵鳥居, shiroki torii 白木鳥居 or *shimaki torii…

Chinese temple lion. Refers to the role and the mask representing a temple lion shishi 獅子. The oldest variety are…

A style of nosing *kibana 木鼻 carved to resemble the head and…

1　Lit. "lion-mouth tile." An ornamental tile placed on each end of a main ridge, instead of the more common…

Also written 獅子児, called haeharai 蝿払. Gigaku masks *gigakumen…

1　A large window in the front wall frame of a principal living room *…

Ch: sishen. Ancient Chinese mythical animals associated with the four cardinal directions: green/blue dragon (Ch:…

Sk: simhasana. A base *daiza 台座 for a Buddhist image in…

Four types of mandala, the dai mandara 大曼荼羅 (great mandala), *Sanmaya mandara…

A private residence for high-ranking priests within the confines of a Buddhist temple. During the Heian period, this type of…

Ch: sishui. Lit. "four sleepers." A painting subject of the Tang dynasty eccentrics *…

A detailed preliminary drawing prepared before undertaking an actual painting hon-e 本絵. The first step in creating…

Small prints of actors, or genre scenes with actors produced around the mid-19th century which bear seals reading shita-…