Lit. neck tenon. A tenon *hozo ほぞ or projection made at the bottom…

Also called kubon ōjōraigō 九品往生来迎. The nine possible levels of birth into *…

Lit. pictures at the entrance. The frontispiece. An illustration or photograph on the first page of book or magazine.

1　Lit. dead leaves; a dull yellow color. Kuchiba dye is made by mixing yellow gardenia *…

Lit. rotted wood pattern. A decorative design pattern which resembles the grain of rotting wood. It is also considered by…

1　Also written 梔子. Reddish-yellow color and dye. Made from chopped, boiled seeds of the kuchinashi…

Korean: Paekche. One of the states in the Three Kingdoms period (Jp: Sangoku jidai 三国時代) of early Korean history, and…

The standard form of the *Kongōkai mandara 金剛界曼荼羅 widely used in Japan…

Lit. nail picture. A type of comic picture *giga 戯画 which Utagawa Kuniyoshi…

Lit. peacock king of those who hold knowledge. A female deity of Indian origin (Sk: Mahamayuri). The subject of the …

Early Heian period Buddhist priest (774-835), patriarch of the Shingon 真言 sect of Esoteric Buddhism mikkyō 密教…

Also written 暈取. Also called *ungen 繧繝. A general term for shading…

Devotional paintings of the three shrines of Kumano, Kumano Sanzan 熊野三山, which are called Hongū 本宮 (Kumano Nimasu Jinja…

A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing Kumasaka no Chōhan 熊坂長範…

Also written 粂仙人. A legendary immortal often depicted in Edo period painting. According to legend recorded in Konjaku…

A set of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints with a common theme. The distinction…

A base for a Buddhist image *daiza 台座 which takes the form of…

Also kunsu, kunshi 裙子, mo 裳. A skirt-like garment covering the lower part of a Buddhist priest's…

Also read keiba. Paintings of horse racing. Most often implies the horse races at Kamigamo Jinja 上賀茂神社 in Kyoto.

Also kuri 皀. A shade of black or dark grey. A dye of this color is made from tannin found in the oak tree Quercus…

Also known as Kurika 矩里迦, a transliteration of Sanskrit Kulika, the name of a dragon-king *…

Black beard. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a dragon god which…

Lit. black book. A type of illustrated novella which flourished between the 1740s and the 1790s. A type of *…

Also read Konron. Ch: Kunlun. Gigaku mask *gigakumen…

Colored *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints. Kusa-e fall into the…

Grass-color. A yellow-green color. To make a pigment of this color a blue pigment *aoni…

Illustrated popular fiction published in Edo from the mid-17th to the late 19th century. Narrative and dialogue was written…

A painting illustrating the tradition of the Abidatsumakusharon  阿毘達磨倶舎論 (Sk: Abhidharmakos'a), a renowned…

A bracelet, usually one produced before the mid-6th century. In the Jōmon period bracelets were made from bivalve shells,…

Kutani ware. The term was used from around 1803, but only the original, ko-kutani 古九谷 (old Kutani) was…

Ch: Qu Yuan (343?-278 BC). A Chinese scholar-official. The archetypal "sorrowful-poet" and noble exile. Because Qu composed…

An abbreviation of Kūya Shōnin 空也上人 or Saint Kūya (903-72), the monk responsible for the spread of Pure…

Also senkuza 氈く座, kyūza 毬座, or mōsenza 毛氈座. A dais *daiza…

1　Lit. paintings of sutra. A painting depicting the content of Buddhist sutra, however, is usually called…

Sutra box. Although usually rectangular these come in many shapes, having a lid and sometimes a foot. Typically the material…

The Chinese term for the dry lacquer technique, pronounced jiazhu in Chinese. In ancient Japanese documents dry lacquer was…

The Kyoto branch of the Kano school *Kano-ha 狩野派, founded by Kano…

Ch: Xiangyan Jizhu. Also read Kōgan gekichiku. A painting subject of the Tang dynasty Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) priest…

Also called *eiri kyōgenbon 絵入狂言本. An Edo period woodblock printed book…

Masks used for kyōgen 狂言 plays. Kyōgen is a comic theatre form, which together with the more serious *…

Proof prints made from the key block (the block that prints the dark outlines of a woodblock print *…

Originally, professionals who hand-copied sutras in the Nara period. Later the appellation referred to artisans who mounted…

Also written 挟侍. Also wakishi 脇士, wakidachi 脇立. Also pronounced attendant figures. In groups of Buddhist…

The mark 卍 manji on the chest of the Buddha. Kyōji is listed as one of the 32 attributes of Buddha *…

Also written 曲禄. Also less commonly called kyoku 曲 or kyokugi 曲木. Lit. curved wood. A chair made of…

Lit. apricot-kernel shape. This term refers to the eyes of Buddhist statues, which are wide open in the shape of an apricot…

Lit. whole body halo. A halo, *kōhai 光背 surrounding the head and body of a…

Armrest. The word was used in the Nara period, but amended to kyōsoku 脇息 in the mid-Heian period. Shapes are…

Also read munakazari, or kyōtetsu 胸綴. An ornament found on the breast of *…

Also kyō busshi 京仏師. Buddhist sculptors *busshi 仏師 associated with…

Kyoto ware. General name of the ceramic wares of Kyoto (except *rakuyaki…

Ch: Xu You Chao Fu. A painting subject representing two legendary Chinese scholar-hermits famous for their extreme…

Sutra cylinder. A container for the Buddhist sutras placed in the sutra mound kyōzuka 経塚: cylinders of circular,…

Ch: gongletu. Lit. Pictures of Pleasures at Court. A broad term referring to paintings of Chinese court ladies, often…

Ch: Jiulao. Lit. nine old friends. An abbreviation of Kyūrōkai-zu 九老会図 (Ch: Jiulaohuitu). Paintings zu…