Ch: Wang Xizhi (303-61). A famous Chinese calligrapher of the Eastern Jin period, considered an originator of both the…

Ch: Huang Renlan. A Chinese immortal who travels many thousands of ri 里 (a ri is approximately 4 km) on…

Ch: Wang Ziqiao. A Zhou dynasty Taoist immortal associated with playing the shō, ō , a traditional reed…

Ch: Wang Zhi (ca. 255-209 BC). A Jin dynasty woodcutter from Quchuan 衢川, who while wandering through the mountains of Guzhou…

Ch: Wang Zhaojun. A beautiful court lady of the Former Han dynasty mistakenly sent to the Huns 匈奴. Her family name was Qiang…

Also akujō 悪尉. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面…

Paintings done by Ōbaku 黄檗 (Ch: Huangbo) Zen 禅 monks and their followers. Many modern historians also include religious…

Lit. "large format." A size of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print. The term ōban…

Also simply beshimi べし見; formerly written 閉歯見. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面…

A decoration in the form of a lion's head *shigami 獅噛, found on…

A standard large-sized sheet of *hōsho 奉書 paper. Approximately 39 x 53 cm. The…

Yellow ochre pigment. Lit. "yellow earth." Made from earth containing hydrated ferric oxide (goethite FeO.OH or limonite…

Lit. "large (or full) face pictures." A type of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵, or…

A projecting mould used in metalwork. Moulds used for metalwork were divided into two types: ogata (convex or…

Lit. "The Fan Target." A pictorial theme connected with a famous incident from the Battle of Yashima *…

A fan used to cool or for ceremonial purposes. Generally the same as sensu 扇子, although ōgi generally…

Portraits of the successive kings of Ryūkyū 琉球 (modern-day Okinawa Prefecture).

A hill in the *Sagano 嵯峨野 area, northwest of Kyoto, facing the low mountains of…

Lit. "the imperial visit to Ohara." Also written 小原御幸. A pictorial theme related to the pathos-filled journey of the retired…

1　A mounting for paintings and calligraphy which originated in China. It consists of a scroll with rollers…

A square wooden box with four legs carried as a backpack by mountain ascetic priests, yamabushi 山伏. The interior of…

Lit. "old man." A type of mask used in kyōgen 狂言 plays to represent an old man. The term ōji usually…

1　Charming, or delightful. An approach to the aesthetic indicating a carefree appreciation of objects and…

Also hakushikijō 白色尉. The white faced mask of a happy old man used in *Noh…

Proto-Noh masks *nōmen 能面 used in the three-piece ritual Shikisanba 式三番…

Also written 嗚滸絵. Comic, satiric paintings popular among aristocrats in the Heian period. The priest Kakuyū 覚猷 (1053-1140;…

The highest ranking of the official painters *goyō-eshi 御用絵師…

Lit. "large head depictions." A common type of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print…

Also okuzuke 奥付, atogaki 後書, batsu 跋 (Ch: ba), or batsubun 跋文 (Ch: bawen…

Lit. "Eight views of Ōmi." An early and famous Japanese version of the eight views, or *…

Woman of ōmi. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a young-to-…

Also sumi-ta 墨板 (black ink block); jizumi-ita 地墨板; sumizuri-no-ita 墨摺の板; daihan 台板…

Lower-ranking groups of official painters employed by the shogunate during the Edo period. The disciples and branch families…

A book containing excerpts from *kabuki 歌舞伎 plays, used by…

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

Onna-e (feminine painting) is a most maligned term that invites various interpretations, some even contradictory.…

Noh masks *nōmen 能面 representing women. This category divides broadly into three…

Sometimes written 斧始め. Also te-onohajime 手斧始, katanahajime 刀始. A ceremony performed when an artist is…

Noh masks *nōmen 能面 of ghosts and spirits. Although all the …

Lit. "extra large format." A size of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print. The term ōōban…

Oribe 織部 ware. Produced mainly from 1600 to the 1630s, this high-fired pottery juxtaposing rich fluid glazes with abstract…

Lit. "folded paper."
1　An appraisal of an artwork written on paper usually folded in half and placed in…

Also jōsōbon 帖装本 and orijō 折帖 or jō 帖. Ch: zheben (Jp: shōhon 摺本). An…

Fabric pictures. Representations of figures, birds, animals, flowers, landscapes or characters of a poem that are cut out of…

Also tsuichōbutsu 鎚ちょう仏. A repose relief depicting Buddhist deities (and the technique involved). Usually small,…

Lit. "the plum tree where the warbler dwells." A painting subject inspired by an episode in the 10th-century tale in …

Also okame おかめ, ofuku お福, otogoze 乙御前, and *sanpei…

Also pronounced ōdan, ōni. A deep yellow color, produced by dyeing yellow gardenia *…

Also otogoze 乙御前. A mask of a young woman, used in kyōgen 狂言 plays. Oto has a fat, dimpled face…

Also tobide 飛出. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing the God of…

Popular stories which flourished from the late Kamakura to the early Edo period. The name derives from an early 18th-century…

Also masugami otoko 十寸髪男. Noh masks *nōmen 能面 of male…

Noh masks *nōmen 能面 representing men. These realistic portrayals…

A pictorial subject taken from "Otome" ("The Maiden"), Chapter 21 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji…

Also known as oiwake-e 追分絵, derived from place names on the outskirts of Ōtsu. Small paintings produced for…

Also *yūjo-e 遊女絵. The term used in Osaka for pictures of…

Lit. "big armor." The most formal type of armor for high-ranking samurai 侍, it was loose-fitting defensive…

Also written 寂.
1　An idea of beauty particularly important in the tea ceremony and haiku 俳句…

Also sabi 錆. A paste made by mixing powdered burnt clay *tonoko 砥の粉…

When woodblocks are being carved to reproduce pages of handwritten characters, sometimes the point of a small knife will be…

Also called kōetsubon 光悦本 or suminokurabon 角倉本, although some scholars consider each of these names to…

A pictorial subject of an area in the western part of Kyoto city, famous for autumn grasses and singing insects. Besides…

Also written 佐波理. An alloy of copper containing less than ten percent tin, lead and zinc and of a pale yellowish color. It…

Paintings based on Saigyō monogatari 西行物語 (The Tale of Saigyō), a fictionalization of the poet-priest…

The name for a group of *ukiyo zōshi 浮世草子 (books of the floating world;…

Ch: suihan sanyou. Lit. "three friends of wintery seasons." A painting theme featuring pine matsu 松, plum…

Also Yoshiwara saiken 吉原細見. Annually published guide to the new *Yoshiwara…

Miniature paintings in a detailed style best suited for fans or albums. Two other terms, mitsuga 密画 and saiga…

Lit. "festival pictures." Paintings that originated in folk beliefs and Shinto rituals shinji 神事, mostly related to…

Lit. "Buddhist colorist." An artist who applies colored pigment to the nimbus or pedestal of a Buddhist statue. A …

The application of color to various architectural elements. In the case of paintings, this normally involves the use of…

A painted statue, usually a Buddhist image. Saishikizō are colored over the entire surface of the figure;…

A *bugaku 舞楽 dance and mask *bugakumen…

Also simply saitan 歳旦. A woodblock print commissioned by a poet, or a man of versatile tastes, to give to his…

A pictorial subject based on "Sakaki" ("The Sacred Tree"), Chapter 10 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

The three types of distances desired for mountains in Chinese ink painting as defined by the famous Academy landscapist of…

Sanage 猿投 kilns. A group of old kilns in an area stretching from the western area of modern Nagoya 名古屋 city to the northern…

1　A pictorial subject taken from the auspicious *kabuki 歌舞伎…

Lit. "Chatter of a Mountain Dweller." A two-volume treatise on painting theory by the late Edo artist and Confucian…

Lit. "three great Buddhas." The three largest images in the history of Buddhist statuary in Japan. Originally the …

Three horizontal grooves in the neck of a Buddha *nyorai 如来 or bodhisattva *…

Lit. "three countries Buddha." Buddhist statues made from the fourth to the seventh centuries in Korea. At that time, Korea…

A Buddhist sculpture workshop *bussho 仏所 that was located in Kyoto's Sanjō 三条…

Abbreviation of Sanju hajinraku 散手破陣楽. *Bugaku 舞楽 dance and mask *…

Also read Sanjūbanjin. Various sets of thirty *kami 神 who…

The thirty-two physical characteristics that symbolize the superhuman qualities of the Buddha. These originated in Indian…

Lit. "thirty-six immortal poets." Imaginary portraits of the 36 outstanding poets from the 7th to 10th centuries selected by…

Abbreviation of Kannon sanjūsanshin 観音三十三身. The 33 forms in which, according to the *…

Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods (Sk: Trayastrimsa deva). Also referred to as Tōriten とう利天, with tori thought to be…

Large-scale hanging scroll paintings of the landscapes of shrines and temples which include images of pilgrims worshipping…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a plebeian old man. Deep furrows line the…

A pestle with three prongs at each end, usually made of gilt bronze. The central grip is often encircled by demons' eyes…

A sword, with a blade at one end and a handle topped by three prongs shaped like a *sankosho…

Ch: Sanjiao. A painting subject of the three patriarchs, Confucius (Jp: *Kōshi…

Also read Samaya-e. The second of the nine *mandara 曼荼羅 comprising…

Also read Samaya mandara. A form of *mandara 曼荼羅 (mandala)…

Also sanmen hōshoku 三面宝飾, sanmen hōkan 三面宝冠. A Buddhist crown that consisted of three upstanding ornaments…

Also read san'e. Three different robes used by Buddhist priests. According to Indian Buddhist tradition, each monk…