Also called horikogatana 彫小刀. A knife used to carve a woodblock *hangi…

Ancient castle ruins in Western Japan. Rows of stones arranged on mountain slopes in Kyūshū 九州 and Western Japan, including…

Incense containers. Also called kōbako 香箱. Small, lidded containers usually made of lacquer or ceramic, and…

Lady Kogō. A late 12th-century beauty described in Heike monogatari 平家物語 (The Tale of The Heike; see…

Lit. tiger mouth. A castle entrance. An early modern term likening the castle gateway to the tooth and fang of a tiger,…

Steps made of thick, heavy, square, or rectangular timbers cut with their ends exposed. One step is called dangi 段木…

Also koguchi kanamono 小口金物. A metal fitting placed over the crosscut end of a timber. The fitting on the ends of…

Also read kiguchi; also ōdanmen 横断面. A timber cut at a right angle across the grain, or the crosscut end…

A right-angled dovetail joint used to connect the corners of sills and footings. Its significant feature is that the end of…

One of the seven trump stones *nanatsu-ishi 七つ石 used in a *…

A bearing block that is set on a pillar *hashira 柱 or bracket arm *…

A finely latticed and coffered ceiling. If each coffer has a mesh of small latticework that is the same as the larger…

The grids of small lattice that fill the coffers of a coffered ceiling *gōtenjō…

Halo found on Buddhist images, representing light said to be emitted by the Buddha *gokō…

A roof built over the steps leading up to a temple building. A step canopy.

Also tanehon 種本. An author's manuscript which has been made into a mock-up of a printed book. The manuscript is…

Lit. carp ascending a waterfall. The Chinese legend of a carp that became a dragon after swimming up a waterfall at the…

1　The top narrow outer surface of a board cut lengthwise through the center or heartwood jushin 樹心…

Lit. Pictures of historical figures, a category of Chinese figure subjects, Kangakei jinbutsuga 漢画系人物画 including…

Originally a Hindi term ghra-pati meaning a householder, trader, or farmer. In China the term came to be applied…

Ch: gushi shanshui. Paintings depicting episodes of quasi-historical accounts, koji 故事 where literary or…

Also kō-no-jigumi 香の字組, kō-no-zugumi 香の図組. A design pattern created by the arrangement of the muntins…

Also read Koshima mandara. A pair of Mandala of the Two Realms *Ryōkai…

1　Also called Kōjinsama 荒神様; Kōjinsan 荒神さん.

2　A god that…

Also written 木後; 鐺. Also called hafujiri 破風尻. The bottom end of a bargeboard *…

Lit. child castle. A branch castle. The main castle is called oyajiro 親城 (parent castle).

A rough small-scale sketch for a painting. Early visualizations of an idea, kojita-e are the first step in…

Also called kōjijō 小牛尉, sometimes pronounced kōshijō. A type of noh mask *…

1　A long, narrow, horizontal wall above the upper non-penetrating tie beams, uchinori nageshi 内法長押…

1　Also called ryūgūmon 竜宮門. A unique type of mausoleum gate *…

Bound resist. An early type of resist dying for textiles, along with wax resist rōkechi 臈纈, and carved wooden-block…

Ch: Huxi sanxiao. An allegory in which three Eastern Jin 東晋 literati realize by accident that spiritual purity…

Also kyōgenbashira 狂言柱. The pillar located at the junction of the rear seats for stage assistants atoza 後座…

The place on a noh stage *nōbutai 能舞台 where the kōken…

Also kokera 柿; koba-ita 木羽板. Also read kaki-ita 柿板.

1　The small chips…

A roof covering made with a layer of thin wooden shingles made of cypress. The shingles are about 0.3 cm-0.5 cm thick, 9 cm-…

Also kojin kiza 胡人跪坐. A kneeling position for a Buddhist image. The figure sits with both knees fully bent, and a…

Lit. deep color. A color name used since the Heian period to refer to a shade of dark purple, or occasionally dark red. A…

Lit. paring down. The *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 woodblock carving process which reduces…

Also pronounced kokibozo. Any tenon that gradually narrows toward its outer end.

Lit. late style dry landscape. A type of dry garden *karesansui 枯山水…

Lit. humorous books. A witty and humorous type of novel of the late 18th and 19th century. The early kokkeibon were…

Ch: gaogu yousi miao. A brush technique used to create the clothing of figures in ink painting. The brush strokes…

Lit. small scattered paving stones. A type of round-stone paving *tama-ishijiki…

Lit. native Japanese culture. The term is used for the culture which arose during the mid-Heian period (also known as *…

Treatise on Native Painting. A short 18th century essay on painting by Confucian scholar and education reformer Hirazawa…

Lit. treasures of the nation. The appellation has existed since the Meiji period, but currently applies to artifacts which…

Korean: Koguryo. One of the three states in the Three Kingdoms period, Sangoku jidai 三国時代 of Korean history. The era began…

Also kokuso 木屎. A paste that was made by adding wood powder, or plant fibres like hemp, to a mixture of flour and…

Sometimes read Kokuzō. Space/Sky Repository (Sk: Akasagarbha, Khagarbha); also called Kokūyō 虚空孕 and in Japan often…

Also kōkyakubu 光脚部, *ukebana 受花. A part of the nimbus…

A Buddhist image seated on a throne or pedestal having pendant legs that are crossed at the ankles to form an "X". Similar…

Small pictorial cartouches in poem-card *tanzaku 短冊 shapes or…

A small tea ceremony room, from two to four and a half mats in size, which best encompasses the characteristics of the…

A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing the aged, yet beautiful face of the hundred-…

A six-sided lantern type found at Fudarakuji 補陀洛寺 in Kyoto.

Also written 木舞. In the Shōsōin Monjo 正倉院文書 it appears as 古麻比 komai and in other old documents as 古万比. The…

Lit. Korean dog. A pair of lion-like guardian figures placed at each side of a shrine or temple entrance; believed to ward…

Lit. reverse side lath. The lath placed between the roof sheathing and the rafters *…

An ancient unit of length which was imported from the Korean kingdom of Koguryo (Jp: Kōkuri 高句麗), equivalent to…

A generic term for bearing blocks that are smaller than the largest type placed on top of a pillar *…

1　A low fence of latticework *kōshi 格子, construction, used to…

Lit. rice stone. A type of granite from modern Nagano and Toyama Prefectures. Also called tsume-ishi 詰石, these…

Sometimes read komigata. Also warikomegata 割込型. A sectioned mold. A type of mold used in metal…

Also written 小見世.

1　A deep covered walkway *hisashi…

A type of trick picture, shikake-e 仕掛絵 where a separate picture is affixed to part of a colored print. When folded…

Two light wooden frames covered with translucent paper *shōji 障子, usually set…

A decorative pattern consisting of a pair of parallel zig-zag lines, one thick and one thin.

Also known as oranda-e 阿蘭陀絵, also written 和蘭陀絵 or simply ranga 蘭画, meaning Dutch painting. Western-style…

Sk: Virupaksa. A guardian deity, believed to protect the west of Buddha's realm. Usually found as part of a group of Four…

Also written 閣門. The gates on the inner enclosure of the Imperial Palace, and the small gates on each side of the Daigokuden…

Lit. rear gate. The best known is found at Kitano Tenmangū 北野天満宮. The gate is an example of *…

Lit. small pattern. A small-scale repeated pattern usually in a single color against a colored ground. Originally used…

A building with a short roof ridge. One example is a hipped roof.

Lit. golden hall. The name given to the principal hall housing the most sacred images at Buddhist temples from the Asuka…

Also kondōzō 金銅造 (gilt bronze construction), kondōzō 金銅像 (gilt bronze statue), …

An angle joint *shiguchi 仕口 with a rabbeted tenon *…

Lit. the youth Kongara. One of two chief attendants of *Fudō Myōō 不動明王 (the…

Also kongōza 金剛座. Lit. diamond throne. The throne on which the historical Buddha *…

A gigaku mask *gigakumen 伎楽面 and role paired…

Also *Niō 仁王, *…

Also banshi 盤子. A stand or tray on which are placed the *kongōsho…

Lit. Eighty-one Deity Mandala of the Adamantine Realm. A variety of *Kongōkai…

Lit. mandala of the Adamantine Realm (Sk: Vajradhatu mandala). A mandala *mandara…

A bell, usually of gilt bronze, rung during an Esoteric Buddhist service. Around the center of the handle are kimoku…

Also kongōgaki 金剛垣. A fence made of vertical stakes with decoratively shaped tops resembling the *…

Lit. vajra pestle. A pestle-like object with pointed ends, derived from an Indian weapon. Usually made of gilt bronze, with…

Also written 金剛薬叉明王. Kongōyasha corresponds to Sanskrit vajrayaksa, which is also the name of one of the sixteen…

Also Kōnin jidai 弘仁時代 or, more frequently in art history, Jōgan jidai 貞観時代. The Kōnin-Jōgan…

Also called Hikaridō 光堂 or Konjikiin 金色院. Lit. Gold colored hall. A small Buddhist edifice at…

A dark blue pigment traditionally derived from azurite or lapis-lazuli *gunjō…

Lit. Barbarian drunkard. Also Suikoraku 酔胡楽 or En'onraku 宴飲楽. A dance piece in *…

A tall (6 shaku 尺, or 181.8 cm), single-panel, standing screen *tsuitate…

Lit. small or short eave. An eave, konoki, constructed of short rafters called flying rafters *…

Also synonymous with Kubira 宮毘羅. A god and leader of the *Yasha 夜又, the…

Lit. original central hall. The main hall, Kondō 金堂 of Enryakuji 延暦寺 (1640), Shiga Prefecture. A large single storied…

Bridal trousseau. An Edo period daimyō 大名 bride brought to her husbands' home a lavish set of household…

Lit. eave corridor. A roofed corridor with open sides. A connecting corridor between two buildings.

Lit. mixed complex system. A system of combining various architectural members into a unified structure. For example: the…

Also kōraibuchi 高麗縁, monkōraiberi 紋高麗縁. A decorated binding used to make the edge of a straw mat *…