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  • General Terms (231)
  • Iconography (37)
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  • Lanterns (8)
  • Measurement (2)
  • Painting (176)
  • Roofing Tiles (30)
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Displaying 101 - 200 of 902
Title Contains Image(s) Description Keywords
kaku zukuri 角造

1 A generic term for structural members that are square in cross section. Examples are found on the steps…

Architecture, General Terms
kakugōshi tamagaki 角格子玉垣

Also called kakutamagaki 角玉垣 or *tatehigo tamagaki 竪籤玉垣. A…

Architecture, General Terms
kakurenji 角連子

Lit. square lattice. Lattice that is square in cross section. A single section of lattice is called renjiko 連子子.…

Architecture, General Terms
kakushiaridome 隠蟻留 ✓

Lit. a hidden mitered dovetail joint, or blind mitered dovetail joint. Also called kakushiarigata kumitsugi 隠蟻形組接…

Architecture, Joints
kakushiguchi 陰口

Also written 隠口. A hidden castle entrance.



1 A castle entrance *…

Architecture, Castles
kakuzai 角材 Any cut timber that is square in cross section.
Architecture, General Terms
Kakuzenshō 覚禅鈔

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

Art History, Painting, Document
kama 釜

A cauldron, iron pot, or kettle. See *chanoyugama 茶湯釜.
 

Architecture, Tea Houses

kama 鎌
A gooseneck tenon. A tenon cut with a long neck (thought to resemble the neck and elongated head of a goose), blunted on the… Architecture, Joints
kama no kami 釜の神

A general term for the tutelary deity or deities, kami 神, of the cooking range *…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
kamachi 框

1 The frame, rail or stile of a door, window or sliding screen *shōji…

Architecture, General Terms
kamachiza 框座

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

Art History, Sculpture
kamado 竈

Lit. place for the cauldron. Also called kudo くど, fudo ふど, hettsui へっつい, kama かま.

…
Architecture, Folk Dwellings
kamadodono 竈殿 Sometimes also kamamiya 釜宮. Also read hettsuidono. A building with a hearth or cooking stove. Often a stove may be placed… Architecture, Shrines
kamadogami 竈神

Also kamagami 釜神. The tutelary deity of the hearth or cooking range *kamado…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
kamadono 釜殿

Also pronounced kanaedono, kamaden. A synonym for *kamaya 釜屋…

Architecture, Shrines
kamae 構

Kamae is an earthen embankment constructed so that it cannot be invaded by an enemy. It has the same meaning as *…

Architecture, Castles
kamakebiki 鎌毛引

A double-line marking gauge with an iron handle bent into an L-shape where the marking blade is attached. The iron handle is…

Architecture, Tools
Kamakura jidai 鎌倉時代

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

Art History, General Terms
kamaotoko 釜男

Also sometimes written 竃男. Lit. cauldron male. An alternative term for *kamadogami…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
Kamatari 鎌足

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…

Art History, Iconography
kamatsugi 鎌継 ✓

A gooseneck tenon and mortise joint. The mortise is cut into one section, and the tenon, with head and neck a single member…

Architecture, Joints
kamaya 釜屋 ✓

Also written 竈屋. Lit. cooking room. Either refers to a freestanding structure used for cooking, or a part of a vernacular…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
kamayadate 釜屋建て

A particular type of divided roof style *buntōgata 分棟型, where the raised…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
kame no o 亀の尾 ✓

Lit. tortoise tail. Short, diagonally set ribs with thin wooden strips called jaboko 蛇骨子 or koebi 小海老,…

Architecture, General Terms
kamebara 亀腹

Also called *manjūgata 饅頭形. Lit. tortoise belly.

1 A…

Architecture, General Terms
kamejima 亀島

Lit. tortoise island. A small island made with several stones that express the head, feet, and tail of a tortoise. Found in…

Architecture, Gardens
kami-e 紙絵

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

Art History, Painting
kami no jū 上の重

Lit. upper floor. Refers to the second story of a two-storied structure. *Jū 重…

Architecture, General Terms
Kami-no-midō 上御堂

Lit. Upper honorable hall. A Buddhist image hall at Hōryūji 法隆寺 (1318) in Nara, rebuilt long after the original hall, built…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kami 神

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

Art History, Iconography
kamidaidokoro 上台所

Lit. upper kitchen.



1 The room or building in which the final stages of food preparation took…

Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings, Folk Dwellings
kamidana 神棚 ✓

An interior shelf *tana 棚, where paper talismans, kamifuda 神札, or…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
kamigamachi 上框 The top rail or the uppermost horizontal door stile. Also kamizan 上桟.
Architecture, General Terms
kamigata-e 上方絵

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

Art History, Painting
kamigata 紙形

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

Art History, Painting
kamihari tenjō 紙貼天井

A ceiling on which layered paper has been pasted. The bottom, middle, and top layers of paper cover the area between the…

Architecture, Tea Houses
kaminashijō 髪無尉

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

Art History, Sculpture
kamite 上手

Lit. upper hand. Upper end or high end. The position or seat of higher rank, or the superior position in a hierarchy. In…

Architecture, General Terms
Kamo no keiba 賀茂競馬

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…

Art History, Painting
kamogawa-ishi 賀茂川石

Lit. Kamogawa stone. A type of stone taken from the bed of the upper Kamo River in Kyoto. It was much in demand as garden…

Architecture, Gardens
kamoi 鴨居 ✓

A generic term for a head jamb. Unlike the lintel *magusa まぐさ, kamoi…

Architecture, General Terms
kamon 渦文

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

Art History, Sculpture
Kan Butei 漢武帝

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-…

Art History, Painting
Kan'ei bunka 寛永文化

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

Art History, General Terms
kan in 款印

A signature *rakkan 落款 or a seal *…

Art History, Painting
Kan U 関羽

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

Art History, Painting
kan'unjoku 寒雲卓 ✓

A type of pitcher shelf *mizusashidana 水指棚. A version of…

Architecture, Tea Houses
kana zōshi 仮名草子

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

Art History, Painting
kanabakari-zu 矩計図

Sectional details. Also kanabakari 矩計. A detailed drawing of the specific parts of a structure in a scale larger…

Architecture, General Terms
kanagu 金具

Also kanamono 金物 (metal thing). Metal fittings that are not only functional but often decorative. 
 …

Architecture, Decorations
kaname 要

A term used for the imaginary center point from which fan rafters *ōgidaruki…

Architecture, General Terms
kanawa tsugi 金輪継 ✓

An oblique, housed (dadoed), rabbeted, T-shaped, half-blind, tenoned scarf joint. Because both the tenon and mortise are…

Architecture, Joints
Kanazawa hakkei 金沢八景

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

Art History, Painting
kanazuchi 金槌

A carpenter's hammer with an iron head. It differs from the steel double faced hammer *…

Architecture, Tools
kanbaku zu 観瀑図

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

Art History, Painting
kanban 看板 ✓

A signboard placed outside or affixed to the front of a commercial premises displaying the name of the shop yagō…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
Kanbun bijin 寛文美人

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

Art History, Painting
kanbutsu-e 潅仏会

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

Art History, General Terms
kandachi 神館 A place for Shinto purification rites, as well as a place for priests to go into seclusion for a set amount of time.
Architecture, Shrines
kane-no-te 矩の手

An architecutural element which incorporates a right angle. For example, a corridor with a right angle bend is referred to…

Architecture, Tools
kaneguchi no nuki 鐘口貫

A penetrating beam *nuki 貫 that is inserted into the structure of a belfry *…

Architecture, General Terms
kanehō 矩方

A line running at a right angle to another line, or something that moves at a direction of 90 degrees relative to something…

Architecture, General Terms
kanejaku 曲尺 ✓

A carpenter's square. It has a long side, about 49 cm, and a short side about 24 cm, and looks like an L shaped ruler. Also…

Architecture, Tools
kanekōbai 矩勾配

The 45 degree pitch of the hypotenuse, the side opposite the right angle, of an isosceles right-angled triangle. A right…

Architecture, General Terms
kanga 漢画

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

Art History, Painting
Kanga Shinan 漢画指南

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

Art History, Painting
Kangakuin 勧学院

Also omotemon 表門. The front gate of Shūgenji 宗源寺 a subsidiary temple of Hōryūji 法隆寺. It serves as a place for study…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
Kangiten 歓喜天

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

Art History, Iconography
kangō shūraku 環濠集落

A settlement surrounded by a moat. The earliest enclosed settlement appeared about 2000 years ago and is associated with the…

Architecture, Castles
Kangyō hensō 観経変相

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

Art History, Iconography
kanimendo gawara 蟹面戸瓦

Also kanimendo 蟹面戸. Lit. crab filler tile. A crab-shaped tile used to cover the gap created by the junction of two…

Architecture, Roofing Tiles
kanjin 勧進

1 To teach and encourage people to follow Buddhist teachings.



2 To…

Art History, Sculpture
Kanjinchō 勧進帳

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

Art History, Painting
kanjōban 灌頂盤

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

Art History, Crafts
kanjōdō 潅頂堂

Also called kanjōin 潅頂院. The hall used to conduct the ceremony to confer the basic precepts and mystic teachings of…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kankai-zu 勧戒図

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

Art History, Painting
Kankaimon 歓会門

The front gate of Shurijō 首里城 in Okinawa Prefecture. It was burned down during World War 2 and rebuilt in 1974. It is an…

Architecture, Gates
kanmuridana 冠棚 ✓

Also called kanmuridai 冠台 or kanmurishoku 冠卓.



1 A light shelf of unusual…

Architecture, Aristocratic Dwellings
kanmurigawara 冠瓦

Roof tiles stacked up on the ridge of a temple or castle roof. Also called *…

Architecture, Roofing Tiles
kanna 鉋

A plane, used to shave away the surface of timber to get a smooth finish. In Japan, where most buildings in pre-Meiji…

Architecture, Tools
Kannon 観音

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

Art History, Iconography
kannonbiraki tobira 観音開扉 ✓

1 A pair of swing doors *tobira 扉 designed to meet at the…

Architecture, Folk Dwellings
kannondō 観音堂 ✓

A Buddhist temple hall dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy *Kannon 観音. Fukushima…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kannuki 閂 ✓

A gate bar. A heavy piece of timber or iron used to affix a plank door to its structure. The kannuki is slipped…

Architecture, General Terms
kannyū 嵌入

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…

Art History, Sculpture
Kano-ha 狩野派

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

Art History, Painting
kanpachiga 捍撥画

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

Art History, Painting
kanrin zu 寒林図

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

Art History, Painting
kansen 鐶釧

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

Art History, Sculpture
kansha 官社

1 Shrines which in the Nara and Heian periods received special government supported status. These shrines…

Architecture, General Terms
kanshiki 款識

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

Art History, Painting
kanshinjiyō 観心寺様

A composite style that includes a mixture of architectural elements from the daibutsu style *…

Architecture, General Terms
kanshitsu 乾漆

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

Art History, Sculpture
kanshō 鑑賞

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

Art History, Painting
kanshoku 冠飾

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

Art History, Sculpture
kanshūjigata tōrō 勧修寺形灯籠

A lantern style based on lanterns found in the Heian period Kanshūji or Kajūji 勧修寺 garden in Kyoto. It is low with a large,…

Architecture, Lanterns
kansubon 巻子本

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

Art History, Painting
kansuryō 監寺寮

One of the administration offices within the priests' living quarters *kuri 庫裡,…

Architecture, Buildings, Structures
kantai 冠帯

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

Art History, Sculpture

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JAANUS is the on-line Dictionary of Japanese Architectural and Art Historical Terminology compiled by Dr. Mary Neighbour Parent.

Originally built by the Atsumi International Scholarship Foundation, it is now hosted and maintained by the Media Center for Art History at Columbia University