Also written 政. An abbreviation of masagami 柾紙, also written 政紙. A smooth grain, lightweight, off-white paper…

A carpenter's hewing ax. It is smaller than a tree-felling ax, tazuki 多都岐, and weighs between 750 and 1300 g. The…

Straight grain. The grain that runs parallel to the growth of the tree or at right angle to the tree rings. The quality of…

Traditional Japanese paper *washi 和紙 made from hemp, asa…

A gradual increase in the height of such structural members as rafters *taruki…

Mashiko ware. A modern pottery type made in Mashiko 益子 village, Tochigi prefecture. The Mashiko kiln was started around 1853…

1　A Chinese temple Sōfukuji 崇福寺 in Nagasaki prefecture, called Masodō, which enshrines a deity called…

A unique gate at Sōfukuji 崇福寺 (rebuilt in 1827) in Nagasaki prefecture. The size is unusual for an eight-legged gate *…

One or many small subsidiary Shinto shrines belonging to a main shrine. If the buildings are located within the precincts of…

Also read to, sometimes written 枡. A box for measuring.

1　Any bearing block that is square…

Stones cut into a cube or close to a perfect cube. Shaped like the square wooden measuring device *masu…

An alcove room *tokonoma 床の間, usually 91 to 95 cm square, equal…

Also written 増髪. Long, tangled hair. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面…

Also written 升形. Lit. "square measuring box." A square enclosed by an earthen embankment, stone wall, moat or gates used to…

A type of castle entrance *koguchi 虎口 protected by a square…

Also pronounced togumi, sometimes written 枡組. Synonyms are *tokyō …

A right angle bisected exactly; for example, a hip rafter that bisects the corner framework forming a 45 degree angle on…

1　A structural system employing posts called *matabashira 股柱, which…

A type of post found in vernacular houses *minka 民家, of the 17th…

The protective deity of the Jōgyō zanmaidō 常行三味堂 of Enryakuji 延暦寺 on Mt. Hiei 比叡 in Kyoto. He is usually portrayed…

A geometric pattern based on stylized pine needles, matsuba 松葉, that is used for muntins *…

Lit. "connected pine needles." A geometrical pattern used for muntins *kumiko…

Also matsuidaberi 松井田縁. A navy-blue linen binding used to make the edge of a straw mat *…

A zigzag pattern which forms a decorative band resembling a series of lozenge shapes. It was used on the built-up ridges of…

1　A pictorial subject taken from "Matsukaze" ("The Wind in the Pines"), Chapter 18 of  Genji…

Also matsu-ni-taka-(no)-zu 松に鷹図. Lit. "paintings of hawks in pine trees." Pine trees matsu 松 were not…

Also written 廻縁. A long edging board or finishing board that covers the junction point of a wall and ceiling. The finishing…

A well with a particular arrangement of stone sidings for its top and shaft lining. It has four lining elements each of…

Also called oimawashijiki 追回敷. The placement of straw mats *tatami 畳,…

Also called mawatashi 間渡. Horizontal strips of split or whole bamboo or other type of wood that extend between the…

1　A carved molding *kurigata 繰形, found on the lower edges of…

Also mayujakuri 眉決, mabigaki まびがき. The process of carving *mayu 眉, moldings…

Lit. "mixed hedge." One type of *ikegaki 生垣 (living fence) in which two or…

Sometimes called itabuki me-ita 板葺目板. Narrow boards or panel strips nailed over the joints of adjacent boards. When…

1　A flat, rectangular roof tile with a small, semi-cylindrical tile attached. This combined tile is placed…

Also called meutsubari めうつ梁. The lower and shorter of two transverse members at right angles to the lintel *…

Also called ōkamatsugi 大鎌継, shinkamatsugi 真鎌継. Half-blind mortise and tenon gooseneck joint. A variation…

Also called inrōtsugi 印籠継. A simple blind or half-blind stub tenon joint. A blind tenon, mechigaihozo 目違ほぞ…

A roofed passageway that runs from front to back in a long building. One example separates the *…

Lit. "glasses picture." A painting which is designed to be viewed through an apparatus which further heightens an illusion…

A type of mould used in metal casting and ceramics. Megata refers to a hollow mould into which molten metal,…

Lit. "female tile." Also called migawara. Also written 雌瓦, or 牝瓦. A 7-12th century term for a broad concave roof…

Tile fragments used to strengthen earthen kilns and mud fences.

Also called shitagi 下木. The indented part of a wooden joint. It functions like a mortise *…

Lit. "famous thing." Term applied to items of tea ceremony *chanoyu 茶湯…

Lanterns at shrines and temples which have come to be known as historically or aesthetically important.

Celebrated fabrics. Cloth chosen and admired by tea adepts and other elites from the 14th to 17th century. Most are *…

Paintings of famous locations around the Japanese capital of Kyoto (formerly Heian-kyō 平安京) at certain characteristic…

Illustrated topographies of famous places within a defined geographical region, published from the mid-to-late Edo period.…

A privately published Edo period topography and guide to famous places. Official topographies were compiled before these…

Also mikakushibei 見隠塀. From mekakushi or mikakushi. Lit. "fence hidden from the eyes or…

A type of iron clamp 8 to 15 cm long that allows a top framing beam *uchinorinuki…

Blind mullions. Mullions that are set so closely together that what is behind them cannot be seen. Some blind mullions are…

A picture calendar koyomi 暦 totally set out in pictures. Originally these were made for the illiterate, but when…

Also called nemurimeji 眠目地. A butt or closed joint, where pavement stones abut so seamlessly that they appear to be…

Also popularly known as Manari Myōjin 馬鳴明神 or Sanjin 蚕神 (God of Silkworms). A bodhisattva *…

Also written 面板. The flat faces of a board. The flat faces of the boards between the narrow horizontal strips *…

Also read as tsura, which means the surface or face of a structural member.

1　The chamfer…

Possibly a corruption of medo 目処. A gap between two things. A board used to cover or fill a gap is called mendo…

Filler or gap-fill tiles used to close or plug the openings along the base of the main ridge *…

Also menkawa 面皮. A pillar or post *hashira 柱, rafter *…

The curved base of a bearing block.

The general term for the relationship between the *tatami 畳 mat binding and…

Also pronounced mendori. The chamfered or beveled edge of a pillar, post, piece of furniture, piece of latticework…

A square post or pillar with chamfered corners.

A special plane used to cut bevelled corners. A shooting board, that serves as a guide, is attached to a small smoothing…

Also mendō 眠堂. Sleeping quarters for the head priest behind the main room at a subsidiary Zen temple *…

Lit. "husband and wife windows"; double windows. A type of window used in a tea ceremony house *…

Ch: Malangfu. One of 33 manifestations of *Kannon 観音 (Sk:…

A type of bamboo-ear gate takehogaki 竹穂垣 used for projecting fences *sodegaki…

The meeting of two structural elements that butt together. Examples include sliding doors *…

Lit. "eye-gap door." A simple informal door that is composed of horizontal lattice yokogōshi 横格子 set fairly widely…

Lit. "eye-fastening post." Also mitsukibashira 見付柱; sumibashira 隅柱. A guide post. The corner post at the…

Also keshō-ita 化粧板. A flat, sheathing board attached to the underside of the eaves of a wooden dwelling. The…

A ceiling plan drawn exactly in relation to the floor plan, i.e., viewed as if a person were lying on his back looking…

Also written 御舎. The emperor's palace or dwellings of the upper class in the proto-historic and early historic periods. The…

A type of halo *kōhai 光背 found on Buddhist images. A square…

Also mida jōin. Lit. "Amida's meditation mudra." Mida is an abbreviation of *…

1　Another name for a temple called Hōjōji 法成寺, built at the end of the tenth to beginning of the 11th…

Lit. "hidden from sight."

1　A structural member, part of which is not visible because it is inserted…

Also *eizō 影像 or *shin-ei…

Lit. "image hall." Also called eidō 影堂, goeidō or goedō 御影堂. A temple hall explicitly assigned to…

Lit. "polished stone." A vague term which means any stone which is highly finished or polished, but may also refer to the…

The term for steps constructed at the center front of two important imperial palace buildings in Kyoto Gosho 京都御所, the…

Also read mitsubashira torii or called sankakutorii 三角鳥居. A gate-like structure *…

A style of architecture found at Miho Jinja 美保神社 in Shimane Prefecture. Two shrine buildings in the taisha style *…

Lit. "Amida looking back." An image of a standing *raigō-in Amida 来迎印阿弥陀…

1　A surface of a Japanese architectural component that faces front.

2　Endpaper,…

A generic name for granite kakōgan 花崗岩, the term originally meant granite quarried in the Mikage 御影 district in the…

Also mikawa 御溝. Ditches surrounding each building in the Imperial Palace. The present palace, Kyoto Gosho 京都御所, has…

Lit. "crescent: three moons." Noh masks *nōmen 能面 representing a…

Also pronounced mikedono. A daily offering hall at a shrine. The most important example is in the northeast corner…

Lit. "forehead light." A curl of white hair on the forehead of a Buddha or Bodhisattva. It is said to emit a bright light…

A type of mounting for a hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物. In this mounting, the…

The art of Esoteric Buddhism mikkyō 密教. Esoteric Buddhism was introduced to Japan from China in the 8th…

Utensils used during ritual incantation and prayer in Esoteric Buddhism mikkyō 密教. Introduced to Japan in the…

Also called Komori Myōjin 子守明神 and may appear in the triad known as Mikomori Sannyoshin 御子守三女神 (see below). The deity of…

Also read shin'yo. Also written 御輿. A palanquin used to transport Shinto deities. A mikoshi was believed…

Also written 神輿宿. Also mikoshigura 神輿倉, or shin'yoko 神輿庫. A storehouse for a portable shrine *…

Also pronounced mikuriya. A building or kitchen where food and drink are prepared to offer to the gods. For…