Lit. "monkey's ears." A pair of cleats that did not really resemble monkey's ears but rather the horns of a bull. The cleats…

Lit. "bamboo grass fence." A living fence or hedge made of low-growing, bamboo grass called kumazasa 熊笹, and…

Concave curves carved out of the upper surface of the bracket arms *hijiki…

Lit. "bamboo-grass metal fitting." A long, narrow, metal fitting *kanagu 金具,…

A string, or stringer. The boards set diagonally on each side of a staircase in order to receive the treads fumi-ita…

Also called sasarako bame 簓子羽目. A traditional type of weather board used to cover exterior walls. The overlapping…

A very small common type of memorial stupa that is made of bamboo-grass sasa 笹 and used in many parts of Japan.…

Lit. "inserted pictures." The term applies to any illustrations in books, magazines, and newspapers.

Small, oblong (6-10 cm) or rectangular stones placed in the space below the bamboo wall base kabedomari 壁留り of the…

Lit. "pointing to the alcove." Ceiling battens *saobuchi 竿縁 or thick straw…

Also called sashibari 指梁. The short visible purlins that jut beyond the barge course *…

Also written 差肘木 or 指肘木. One or more bracket arms *hijiki 肘木, inserted into the…

Also called sashikake yane 差掛屋根 or sashidashi 差出. A pent roof, shed roof or lean-to roof covering an…

Also written 差木 or 挿木. A generic term for the joining of timbers at right angle by inserting one into the other, most often…

A generic term meaning to insert, usually a tenon *hozo ほぞ into a mortise *…

Short purlins *keta 桁, about the length of one bay, inserted into the bargeboards…

A short purlin *keta 桁, that extends from the second strut within a hidden roof…

Lit. "insert ridge." Also written 指棟. Short, exposed ridges *keshō munagi…

Also read sassubon. A bound book as opposed to a handscroll *kansubon…

1　Equivalent to *inokosasu 豕扠首 in shrine and temple…

Also sashibari 指梁. The transverse beam which supports the triangular framework *…

The horizontal base on which the diagonal braces *sasuzao 扠首竿 are placed in the gable of a…

1　Diagonal braces *sasuzao 扠首竿, set on transverse beams *…

Flush or even surfaces. Surfaces that are on the same plane. For example, a threshold *shikii…

Also 扠首棹. The diagonal braces used to form the triangular frame in many gable pediments *…

Also keshōzuka 化粧束.

1　A short strut centered between the diagonal braces *…

A village castle. A medieval castle built in a low-lying village. Typically furnished with defensive installations.

A picture drawn for the purpose of inducing a sudden insight or "enlightenment". A caricature often *…

Satsuma 薩摩 ware. A general name for pottery and porcelain made in Satsuma and Ōsumi 大隅 in Shimazu 島津 fief (modern Kagoshima…

A pictorial subject based on "Sawarabi" ("Early Ferns"), Chapter 48 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji…

Lit. "marsh crossing." A path made of stepping stones *tobi-ishi 飛石 placed in…

A picture which is incomprehensible when viewed with the naked eye but which appears in normal proportions when viewed…

Also called ōiya 覆屋 or *kusari-no-ma 鎖の間.

1…

Also ōidō 覆堂, ōiya 覆屋 or tōdō 套堂. Lit. "sheath hall." A building constructed over a shrine or…

A design pattern of interlocking swastikas, manji 万字 (卍). Most sources agree that the term (a contraction of sa…

Lit. "bilateral symmetry." An image whereby the right and left sides of an image are identical. With the practice of…

Also called sansōdō or sasaidō 三匝堂. An hexagonal Buddhist hall constructed with two internal, circuitous…

Also written 脊. Lit. "back."

1　The convex side of a curved timber. The concave side is called the…

Also written 丈, 背. Lit. "depth or thickness." The distance between the underside and topside of timber, stones and…

Also seibyōmon 聖廟門. Lit. "Confucian schoolgate." A 1 x 1 bay, single-story gate with a gable roof *…

Ch: Xiyuanyaji. Lit. "Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden." A pictorial subject depicting an imaginary literati party at…

Also shifun 蚩吻. A decoration in the shape of a fictional animal found at each end of a main roof-ridge *…

1　Also pronounced seikaiha. A wave design made of the arches of concentric circles superimposed…

Square worship hall. A type of worship hall at a Shinto shrine. The 3 × 3 bay hall is believed to have been derived from a…

Also called Sōjōmon 僧正門. The middle gate in the semi-opened, west corridor at Kasuga Taisha Honsha 春日大社本社 in Nara.…

One of Three Jōdo Mandalas *Jōdo sanmandara 浄土三曼荼羅. A type of *…

Ch: Xihu. Lit. "west lake." Of the several Chinese lakes known as West Lake, the most famous is the West Lake at Hangzhou 杭州…

Ch: Xiwangmu Dongwangfu. Ancient Chinese female and male deities associated with immortality and popular Daoism. Originally…

Ch: Zhenghuangniu. Lit. "Zheng (Jp: Sei 政) of the Yellow Ox." The popular name for a Chinese Northern Song Zen 禅 (…

Also termed seirō yagura 井楼櫓. A watch tower. Seirō were built from the Muromachi to the early…

Also written 清楼棚 or 西楼棚, sometimes called seinikaidana 西二階棚. Staggered shelves *…

Also read Kiyotaki Gongen. A protective deity associated with the Chinese temple Qinglongsi (Jp: Seiryūji 青竜寺) in Chang'an (…

Abbreviation of Seiryōjishiki Shaka nyorai-zō 清涼寺式釈迦如来像, also known as *…

Ch: qinglu shanshui. Lit. "blue-and-green landscape." A style of Chinese landscape painting heavily colored with…

Lit. "obtained strength." Also Daiseishi 大勢至 (Sk: Mahasthamaprapta), or he who has obtained great strength. Also …

A type of *yakuimon 薬医門. A 1-bay, single-entrance gate with side gates *…

Also read shoshuku; also shukuyō 宿曜. Meaning constellation, this term refers in Buddhist iconography…

Lit. "the youth Seitaka." One of two chief attendants of *Fudō Myōō 不動明王 (the…

Lit. "Discussion of Western Painting," Shiba Kōkan's 司馬江漢 (1747-1818) slim theoretical work in praise of Western naturalism…

Also called *dotome-ita 土留板, maku-ita 幕板. Palings, poling…

Lit. "stone Buddha." A Buddhist image made in rock or stone. The term sekizō 石造 (carving from stone) was used…

Lit. "stone flag." A type of stone pagoda with a hexagonal or octagonal base, a banner-shaped shaft, dōshin 幢身, a…

A type of stone lantern, ishidōrō 石灯籠. Shaped like a Buddhist memorial *sekidō…

An impromptu painting done upon request at a meeting with a guest or patron. It is recorded that Kano Kagenobu 狩野景信(fl. ca.…

Ch: Chibi. Lit. "Red Cliff." A painting subject of a peak in Hubei 湖北 Province featured in the prose-poem The Red Cliff…

1　Also read ishimon. A gate made almost entirely of stone, seen especially in Okinawa Prefecture.…

Lit. "barrier-keeper stone." A stone placed atop a stepping stone *tobi-ishi…

Also yūō 雄黄. Orpiment, king's yellow. A lustrous yellow pigment *ganryō…

Ch: jixue kanshu. Lit. "reading by the light of piled snow." A Chinese painting subject depicting the dedication…

Also written 石墻門. Lit. "stone wall gate." A gate with either single or triple arch-like openings in a wall made of stacked…

1　An Edo period school of tea ceremony founded by Katagiri Sekishū 片桐石州 (1605-73). Branch schools…

A tea ceremony encyclopedia based on the methods of Katagiri Sekishu 片桐石州 (1605-73), who is believed to have authored 300…

Also read ishitō. A generic term for pagodas or stupas made of stone. It includes multiple-storied stone pagodas…

A pictorial subject based on "Sekiya" ("The Gatehouse"), Chapter 16 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji…

Lit. "stone made gate."

1　Gates with arched entrances which are found in Okinawa Prefecture and…

Limestone. A type of rock rarely used in gardens because of its soft and transient nature, although it was employed as a…

The execution of a construction project.

Working scale drawings, including plans, elevations, and roof structure, etc. They are enlarged drawings that show various…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a young prince who is blind from…

Lit. "mudra for bestowing fearlessness (Sk: abhaya or abhayadana or abhayaprada mudra)." A mudra…

Also written 賎院. The quarters where the lowliest serfs lived in a Buddhist temple. In ancient Japan, these people were…

Also called komisen 込栓. A pin, peg, key, cotter or dowel made of hardwood, usually oak or zelkova. It varies in…

A pictorial subject in *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 taken from Senbonzakura (One…

Also written 甎仏 or 磚仏. Japanese buddhist images in relief on unglazed clay tiles sen せん which are square,…

1　An alternative term for *byakudan 白檀.

2…

A style of architecture exemplified by the 2-storied worship hall *haiden 拝殿 at…

Ch: qianjiang shanshui. A type of Chinese landscape painting using light red coloring for rocks and trees. The…

Lit. "Warring States period." The period began with the outbreak of the Ōnin Wars (Ōnin no ran 応仁の乱, 1467-77) and…

Votive papers. Small slips of paper on which pilgrims to temples and shrines wrote their names and addresses and which were…

Lit. "ideogram of the character sen 宣." A dais *daiza 台座 for a Buddhist…

Lit. "line pattern." A design pattern found on a slanting strut *shirin 支輪,…

Sk: Sahasrabhuja-arya-avalokitesvara. Thousand-armed Kannon or *Kannon 観音 with…

Screens decorated with fan paintings. There are two basic types of senmen byōbu: fan painting taken from used or…

Also ōgi-e 扇絵. Paintings or calligraphy on paper fans. In Japan, two basic types of fans have been used since the…

A flutter book. A variation of an accordion book *orihon 折本 in which a single…

Lit. "glittering green stone." A type of stone similar to granite but containing black granules. Often containing small…

Ch: Chuanzi Jiashan. A painting subject of the meeting between the Chinese ＣChan 禅 (Jp: Zen) priests Chuanzi (Jp: …

Lit. "spring water." Originally the term referred to spring water running through a garden. In Kyoto, a number of…

Lit. "thousand Buddhas." Sometimes abbreviated to senbutsu 千仏. A large number of Buddhist images, usually the same…