The culture of the Bunka 文化 (1804-18) and Bunsei 文政 eras (1818-30), and by extension, that of the late Edo period as a whole…

Images of the so-called immortal poets kasen 歌仙, distinguished historical poets of waka 和歌 (Japanese 31…

Lit. "head carving." The title of the master engraver and also of the engraving process by which the key block *…

A pictorial subject taken from "The Oak Tree" Kashiwagi, a type of oak, Quercus deutata, Chapter 36 of Genji…

Lit. "battle pictures." Edo period depictions of warfare from the 16th and early 17th centuries as well as scenes from the…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a Zen temple boy in training who serves in the…

Devotional paintings of the deities and landscape of Kasuga Taisha 春日大社 which was founded in Nara in the 8th century as the…

1　A pattern representing mist, often stylized into shapes like the ideographs 工 or 王. It is used as a…

A plain weave fabric with designs developed in India and brought to Japan via Indonesia (where it is called ikat),…

Also written 帷子. An unlined garment worn in summer since the Heian period. For court nobles, it was woven with cotton, hemp…

A preliminary layer of lacquer applied to a wooden surface to reinforce and preserve the wood. *…

An animal-head decoration found on the shoulders of a soldier's armor yoroi 鎧. Often a lion's head *…

A popular simple, bold *kosode 小袖 design from the Kamakura…

Also okigata 置型. A device used in metal casting. Often, in metal casting, a double mold was used, consisting of an…

Lit. "shoulders and hem." The type of *kosode 小袖 decoration where…

Catechu, cutch. A brown vegetable dye taken from a leguminous plant Acacia catechu wild, grown in Southeast Asia. The stems…

Lit. "Katsukawa school." A school of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists who specialized…

1　Sanskrit; karma. A deed, interpreted according to the Buddhist laws of cause and effect.

2…

A form of mandala *mandara 曼荼羅 in which the deities are…

Lit. "roof-tile print." Also later known as yomiuri 読売 (sell by reading), because newsprint vendors read their…

Also yose-e 寄せ絵. A type of woodblock print that depicted human faces, necks, or hands with contorted miniature…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a ghost of a man of commoner…

Also sometimes read kashōza. A lotus-leaf, kayō 荷葉 dais for a Buddhist image *…

Also shōgon busshi 荘厳仏師. Artists who made metal and jeweled ornaments for Buddhist statues. These ornaments…

Also ōkebutsu 応化仏, hengebutsu 変化仏, ōshin 応身, or keshin 化身. Sk: nirmana-buddha. Lit. "…

Also written 華瓶. A vase used to offer flowers on a Buddhist altar. Made of gold, silver, bronze, crystal, or clay. The vase…

A list that was inserted at the end of a sutra or on a piece of paper placed inside a statue, or sometimes written on the…

Fine, thin bush-strokes employed to depict animal fur or human hair, especially sideburns, beard, or eyebrows. Strokes of…

A school of Buddhist sculptors *busshi 仏師 active from the late Heian period…

Also read motodori. Hair tied on top of the head in a topknot. The same meaning as *…

In Chinese art refers to reproducing a likeness of the form of object. Also shajitsu 写実. It is the third of the Six…

Also read kyōsaku. A rod, used to awaken monks who doze off during Zen meditation. Shaped like a baton, about 130…

Also zenka fuza 全跏趺坐, or abbreviated to zenkaza 全跏坐, kafuza 跏趺坐, kaza 跏坐. The full-lotus…

Lit. "fist." Transliteration of the Sanskrit musti. A mudra or hand gesture *in…

Transliteration of the Sanskrit gandharva, translated as jikikō 食香 (scent-eater), jinkō…

Also read kensaku, kenzaku; also saku 索. A rope, made from five different colored strands (…

Sliding screens with paintings of thirty-two Chinese sages, which form the main wall behind the Emperor's throne in the…

The art of Exoteric Buddhism. Generic term referring to any Buddhist art except for Esoteric Buddhism *…

A painting or calligraphy executed on silk; the term is applied to specify the support used for the work. In particular,…

Ch: Xianzi. A semi-legendary 9th-century itinerant priest and eccentric. His name, meaning something like "Clam Priest," is…

The marks carved in all the woodblocks of a set needed to produce a full-color woodblock print *…

A straight bladed chisel used to make *kentō 見当, guide marks used…

Also written 見徳. A comic mask used in kyōgen 狂言 plays. Kentoku has a timid, clownish expression, with…

Disciples or followers of Buddha. Often refers to groups of devotees who accompany an important Buddhist deity, for example…

A line-engraving technique used in metal carving, which consisted of sequences of fine dots. The name keribori…

Buddhist surplice. A general term for an outer garment worn by Buddhist priests and found on Buddhist figures. See *…

To trim the white margins off a finished woodblock print *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 with a knife.

Also kekyaku 華脚. Decorative legs that are attached to a desk, an offering stand or the dais a Buddhist image *…

The smudges that result on a woodblock print *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 if the areas…

Ch: juetou dingmiao. A brush technique used to create the clothing of figures in an ink painting. The brush strokes…

Lit. "Buddhist wood sculptor." Term used to refer to makers of Buddhist statues from the Heian period onward. In the Asuka…

A type of illustrated popular fiction *kusazōshi 草双紙. Lit. "…

Also read Kisshōten. Also called Kichijōtennyo 吉祥天女 or Kudokuten 功徳天 (Sk: Sri Laksmi, Mahasri, Mahadevi). Originally an…

Also read Kisshōten mandara. A variety of dedicated mandala *besson…

Also kakō kidori 加工木取; aradori 疎取; arakidori 疎木取.

1　The sawing and…

A method of metal casting using a wooden model. The wooden model was called kigata 木型. The kigata was…

A yellow vegetable dye. Also called kiwada, ōbaku. The dye is taken from the bark of the philodendron (…

Kijin masks. Masks representing gods who dispel evil, animal spirits, and Buddhist deities, particularly as…

Also called bekkōgata 鼈甲形. A geometric pattern comprised of hexagonal units resembling the shape and pattern of a…

Ch: Guiguzi. The Chinese eccentric and recluse Wang Xu (Jp: Ō Ku 王詡) who lived approximately 3rd-4th century BC. After a…

Ch: Jucitong. Lit. "chrysanthemum love child." The childhood name of the Zhou dynasty Daoist immortal Peng Tan (Jp: Hō Tan…

A design depicting chrysanthemums floating on a river. In China it is associated with longevity, probably in connection with…

Ch: Guiqulai. "Homecoming Ode" by the Jin dynasty poet Tao Yuanming (Jp: *Tō Enmei…

Also kimekomi きめ込み or nikuzuri 肉摺 (flesh printing). A special printing technique used to raise the paper…

Also called dei-e 泥絵. Gold and silver powders mixed with glue and employed to decorate crafts, calligraphy,…

Two methods of printing gold or silver (and other metallic pigments) on a woodblock print *…

A portrait, sculpted or painted, of a Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) master (see *chinsō…

Lit. "gold ground." Generally refers to the gold background of a painting, regardless of whether the gold is applied as leaf…

Also written 金神. A golden figure of Buddha. This may be cast in gold, or made of copper or bronze with a golden colored…

Lit. "painting of Sakyamuni emerging from the golden coffin." A genre of painting depicting one of the scenes from the life…

Lit. "gold Chinese leather." A kind of decorated leather with patterns created by painting, relief, or gold foil. Introduced…

The four accomplishments celebrated by the Chinese scholar-literati elite as elegant pastimes: playing the qin (Jp…

Ch: Qin Gao Xianren. A painting subject of the Daoist immortal sennin 仙人 (Ch: xianren) Qin Gao, noted for riding a…

It is also written 金間, 金磨, 金馬. A lacquer technique in which patterns are carved on black lacquer and filled in with red…

Ch: jinbi shansui. Lit. "gold and blue landscape." A blue and green landscape *…

A large painting on a wall, screen, or sliding door *shōhekiga 障壁画 where…

Lit. "gold and blue painting."

1　A decorative style of Chinese landscape painting that originated…

Also written 公平本. The typical early Edo period publication of the *eiri jōruribon…

Gold brocade. Woven of patterns with gold or silver woof on a plain ground of hiraori 平織 (plain fabric), ayaori…

The Japanese name for the gold color added to Chinese wucai porcelain gosai 五彩, featuring a white-base with red,…

Genre painting of the early modern period. Paintings depicting the daily activities and special pleasures of contemporary…

Lit. "golden boy." A childhood name given in later centuries to Sakata no Kintoki 坂田公時, one of the four great generals of…

Ch: Jinshansi. A well-known Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) temple in Zhenjiang 鎮江, southeast Jiangsu 江蘇 Province, China. The famous temple…

Metal statue. A variety of metals were used for statues in Japan, including iron and silver, but bronze *…

An undercoat of mica *kirara 雲母粉 mixed with sizing *…

Also kira, ummo, or unbo 雲母. Mica. Mica is a silicate mineral with a layered structure, whose…

Detached chin of a mask. A feature of the bugaku mask *bugakumen…

Lit. "cut-foil." A method of ornamentation using gold and/or silver leaf cut *haku…

Also written 截金. Lit. "cut-gold."

1　Metal foil *haku 箔…

One type of brightly colored paper, chiyogami 千代紙 on which small designs of theater costumes, crests, flowers…

Ch: qilin. A mythical Chinese animal that combines the elemental male animal ki 麒 (Ch: qi) and the female…

A pictorial subject based on the opening Chapter, "The Paulownia Court" Kiritsubo of Genji monogatari…

A painting school founded by Ganku 岸駒 (1749/56-1838), which was characterized by bold and vigorous depictions of animals,…

A broad range of decorative designs which are thought to bring good fortune. Many were brought to Japan from China but some…

Also sometimes abbreviated to Tenjin engi 天神縁起 (History of Kitano Tenjin). A combination biography and catalogue of…

Lit. "north mountain culture." The culture of the early Muromachi period *…

A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 and the mask *…

Fox. The fox is represented in the kyōgen 狂言 play Tsurigitsune 釣狐 (Fox Trapping) by a masked…

1　Lit. "examined seal: i.e. seal of examination." A small round censorship seal containing the character '…