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

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…

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…

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 rin…

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…

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

Lit. certificates of authenticity. A written appraisal or authentication of an artwork. There are four types of appraisals…

Old sketch maps of proprietary estates and temple precincts. The earliest examples are the maps preserved in the *…

Ch: Huang Shangu (1045-1105). One of the best-known calligraphers and poets of the Northern Song dynasty, depicted in…

Ch: Huang Chuping. Taoist immortal figure and magician of the Jin dynasty known for his ability to transform a herd of sheep…

A pictorial subject taken from "The Rose Plum" Kōbai (red plum blossoms), Chapter 43 of Genji monogatari …

Lit. small format. A size of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print that is a quarter…

A dark grey-brown color. Dye extracted from the bark of the plum tree, momokawa 楊梅皮 is used with an iron mordant to…

A small-sized sheet of *hōsho 奉書 paper that is approximately 33 x 47 cm. After…

A pictorial subject based on "Butterflies" Kochō, Chapter 24 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Ch: hudiezhuang. Lit. butterfly book. A type of book-binding, which, according to some, is the same as *…

Woodblock prints *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 with children as their subject. No adults are…

Lit. Remarks on Old Paintings, a 51 chapter, mid-19th century, painters' biography compiled by Asaoka Okisada 朝岡興禎 (1800-56…

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

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

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…

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

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

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

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

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…

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…

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

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

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

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…

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

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

The Kōrakuji school. A hereditary school of Buddhist painters *ebusshi 絵仏師…

Also kōrin mon'yō 光琳文様. Decorative designs which resemble the work of the artist Ogata Kōrin 尾形光琳 (1658-1716…

Ch: goule. Also written 鈎勒 or 勾勒 and called sōroku 雙鉤. One of the two primary techniques of Chinese…

The Kose school which was founded by Kose no Kanaoka 巨勢金岡, who held an important hereditary position in the 9th-century…

Type of screen similar to *makura byōbu 枕屏風 in format. They were slightly…

Ch: Kongzi. Confucius (551-479 BC). The seminal Chinese philosopher of the late Spring and Autumn period. His family name…

Ch: gengzhitu. Lit. pictures of agriculture and sericulture. In China the theme was originally reserved for court…

Sometimes called *eden 絵伝. Pictorial biographies of revered Buddhist priests and…

Collection on Painting, a seminal Japanese book on Chinese paintings written in 1623 by Kano Ikkei 狩野一渓 (1599-1662), the…

The textual portion of an illustrated handscroll *emaki 絵巻. …

A painting technique used to draw an object or motif in light ink strokes. Used since the Edo period during the final steps…

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…

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

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

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…

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…

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

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…

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

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

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…

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…

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

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…