Also shibai-e 芝居絵 and geki-e 劇画. Includes kabuki gekijō zu 歌舞伎劇場図 and *…

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

The eighteen *kabuki 歌舞伎 plays selected as best by Ichikawa Danjūrō 7 七代市川団十郎…

Pictures of *kabuki 歌舞伎. In the broad sense of the term, kabuki zu…

Also written as 兜. A helmet, usually made of iron. The earliest Japanese helmets were made in the Kofun period. There were…

Lit. bird-and-flower painting. Paintings of birds and flowers, flowers only *kakiga…

Also ka'enkō 火焔光. Lit. flame nimbus. A halo *kōhai 光背 on a…

1　Lotus petal design carved around the lower base kiban 基盤 of a lantern *…

Also called sakaguma 反隈 (or 逆隈) or teriguma 照隈. Lit. highlighting. Reverse shading. A shading *…

A pictorial subject based on the "Flares" Kagaribi, Chapter 27 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji…

1　A pictorial subject taken from one of the eighteen great kabuki plays *…

A pictorial subject taken from "The Drake Fly" Kagerō (also translated as Dayfly or Mayfly), Chapter 52 of G…

Also called kaio'oi 貝覆. A shell-matching game played originally by nobles in the Heian period. A half clam shell…

A ceremony where a Buddhist image not normally on view is unveiled to all worshippers. Normally carried out during a…

Ch: jiehua. Lit. boundary painting. Both a painting technique and a painting genre in China. As a technical term,…

Also abbreviated to kaigen or kaigan 開眼, jugan, or jugen 入眼. Lit. eye-opening ceremony.…

Kaigetsudō school. A school of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists in early 18th century who…

A school of painters active from the 16th century to the 19th century founded by Kaihō Yūshō 海北友松 (1533-1615) and passed…

Lit. Humble Words on Matters of Painting, a late 18th century polemic on painting theory by Kuwayama Gyokushū 桑山玉洲 (1746-99…

Shell buckets. Paired octagonal wood-based lacquer-decorated containers with fitted inrōbuta zukuri 印籠蓋造 lids used…

Ch: Jieziyuan huazhuan. Lit. Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting; a Qing dynasty painting manual that had a…

A round metal or wooden plate with a separately made or repousse (hammered from the rear) image of a Shinto deity *…

A print mounted on a hanging scroll. A format used for *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints.…

Also called by names such as kakejiku 掛軸, kakefuku 掛幅, jikumono 軸物, *…

Lit. persimmon color. An orange color, said to resemble the persimmon fruit, or a reddish-brown like the color of persimmon…

Ch: huahui hua. Paintings of flowers and various types of grass. This term is usually applied to Chinese painting,…

The moveable paintings used as backdrops for a *kabuki 歌舞伎 play. A piece of…

A variation of *tenmokuyū 天目釉. A red-brown glaze which is often used on straight…

Ch: Guo Ziyi (697-781). A Tang dynasty general, known for his military conquests and progeny. A native of Huazhou 華州 in…

Compilation of Kakuzen. An early Kamakura-period compilation of traditional Buddhist iconography. Also called Hyakkanshō…

Lit. frame base. The pieces of wood used around a window used to denote the lowest horizontal section of the dais for a…

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

The subject of a number of paintings in the possession of Danzan Jinja 談山神社 on Tōnomine 多武峯 in Nara. Kamatari is a deity…

A pre-13th century term for small paintings executed on paper in the *yamato-e…

A Shinto deity. Although the word deity may imply a singular definite presence, kami have no fixed number, form or…

*Ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints from the Osaka-Kyoto area (kamigata 上方 denotes…

Lit. paper figure. The preliminary underdrawing *shita-e 下絵 for a Kamakura and…

Hairless old man. Also written 上無尉. Alternate name, inarijō 稲荷尉. A nō mask *…

A painting subject of horse racing at Kamigamo Jinja 上賀茂神社 in Kyoto. The event was a popular custom held on May 5th (today…

Also sentenmon 旋転文. A spiral pattern used in drapery folds on Buddhist statues. Ridges, representing creases in the…

Ch: Han Wudi (159-87 BC). Lit. Emperor Wu of Han. The seventh emperor of the Former Han (Jp: Zenkan 前漢), who ruled from 141-…

Kan'ei culture. The culture of the Kan'ei era (1624-44) and by extension that of the whole early Edo period *…

A signature *rakkan 落款 or a seal *…

Ch: Guan Yu (d. 219 CE). A Chinese general. A painting theme and the subject and title of a *…

Lit. book in kana script. A popular literarily form produced between 1600-82, principally in the Kyoto area. These…

Lit. Eight views of Kanazawa. Eight scenic spots around Kanazawa, the southern part of Kuraki 久良岐 in Sagami 相模 Province (…

Ch: guanputu. A pictorial theme that features a scholar gazing at a waterfall. The theme probably relates to the poem Ballad…

Lit. beauties of the Kanbun 寛文 era (1661-73). A generic and recently coined term for paintings of beautiful women and men,…

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

Lit. Chinese painting. Several painting styles which developed in Japan after the mid-13th century under the influence of…

Guide to Chinese Style Painting. A late 18th century treatise on *nanga 南画 by…

Also read Kankiten. Also Shōten/Shōden 聖天. Abbreviation of Daishō kangiten 大聖歓喜天. The elephant-headed…

A transformation scene of the Pure Land *jōdo hensō 浄土変相 based on the…

1　To teach and encourage people to follow Buddhist teachings.

2　To…

A pictorial subject taken from Kanjinchō (The Subscription List), perhaps the best-loved *…

A flag, made in cloth and covered with gilt-bronze, used for the Buddhist abhiseka ceremony of sprinkling water on the head…

Ch: quanjietu. Also written 鑑戒図 (Ch: jianjietu). Lit. pictures of advice and admonishment. Paintings based on Confucian…

Also Kanzeon 観世音, Kanjizai 観自在. The bodhisattva *bosatsu 菩薩 who personifies…

An inset or inlay technique. One example is the eyes in a wooden statue in which the shape of the eye is hollowed out and a…

A hereditary school of professional artists, patronized by military governments from the late Muromachi to the early Meiji…

A painting depicted on a plectrum guard kanpachi 捍溌, a sheet of leather attached to stringed instruments, such…

Ch: hanlintu. Lit. pictures of a cold grove. A painting theme featuring a grove of leafless trees in a cold or…

Decorative rings on the arms and legs of Buddhist images. The rings are carved from the same material as the image, or are…

Correctly read kanshi かんし. Connoisseurship. Originally referred to engraved inscriptions on Chinese bronzes, but…

Also kanshitsuzō 乾漆像, kanshitsu-zukuri 乾漆造. Dry lacquer technique. A technique used to produce…

Appreciation. To take intuitive pleasure in the total sense of form and expression of content of a work of art. Inherent in…

A general term for the ornamentation and style of Buddhist crowns *hōkan…

Also kansu 巻子, makimono 巻物 and kansō 巻装. A handscroll or horizontal scroll. A bound-…

Also kanzō 冠繪, tentai 天帯, hōzō 宝繪, tenkantai 天冠帯. The ornamental ribbons which…

Also kantan. Man from Kantan. A nō mask *nōmen 能面…

Also written 広東, 漢島, 漢渡, and 閑島. A fine silk striped woven material, perhaps named after the Japanese pronunciation of…

Ch: Hanshan Shide. Semi-legendary Tang dynasty, Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) eccentrics who were frequently depicted in Chinese and…

A stick type of hair ornament. It may be a single stick or fork-shaped stick. The handle end usually has decoration.…

A bright yellowish-orange color. Named after the yellow dye lily flower kanzō 萓草. Kanzō-iro dye was…

Also kakihan 書判, lit. written seal mark, or han 判. Specifically designed character representing or…

Lit. river child. A supernatural water-sprite believed to inhabit Japan's lakes and rivers. The name kappa varies…

Also かっぱ摺 or kappaban かっぱ版; sometimes kōhan 孔版 or katagamizuri 型紙摺. A technique used to apply…

Ch: kebi. Lit. dry brush. Also kohitsu 枯筆 (withered brush) or sappitsu 擦筆 (rubbed brush). An ink…

Lit. inspector mekiki 目利 of Chinese painting. The post of official art appraiser for the Tokugawa 徳川 shogunate…

Although literally translated to mean Tang dynasty Chinese 'kara 唐' painting, its definition and usage changed with…

A Chinese-style chest used to store clothes, arms, personal effects, sutra scrolls (in this case called kyōkarabitsu…

Lit. Chinese floral motif. Intricate foliage patterns transmitted from China to Japan. Karahanamon is a general…

Ch: tang shizi. The Chinese lion. Representations of lions were produced by Chinese and then Japanese artists based…

1　Any paper imported from China. Although the terms karakami and *…

Ch: tangzi you. A painting subject of Chinese children at play. The theme has two types: in the first children play…

Lit. Chinese grass motif. Also called karakusa 唐草. Often used interchangeably with *…

Lit. Chinese things. The term is especially common in *chanoyu 茶湯 to designate…

Karatsu 唐津 ware. A general name for the glazed, high-fired pottery made at kilns producing Korean style pottery grouped…

Also called Kōya Myōjin 高野明神. An old hunter represented with a white dog or dogs or as a courtly figure in formal…

Also written 猟衣, 雁衣. Lit. hunting silk. Often translated as hunting robe. Originally a long, loose informal jacket worn by…

The Japanese name of the Indian deity (Sk: Hariti), a protector of children who was the wife of Panchika. Her name was…

Also written 刈安. The name of a yellow dye, and the plant from which it is taken. Kariyasu is a tall grass…

1　Garuda. see *hachibushū 八部衆.

…

1　Flames which emerge from the mouth of the supernatural bird *Karura…

Sk. kalavinka. Originally a sparrow-like bird that lived in the snowy mountains ofthe Himalaya range, reputed to possess a…

A depiction of a famous beauty of the Meiwa 明和 era (1764-72). Until her marriage in 1771 at age 19, Osen お仙 was a…