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 内隈. Lit. "interior shading." A technique *kumadori 隈取 in non-…

Also written 内曇. Also called kumogami 雲紙. Abbreviation of uchigumorigami 打曇紙. A type of decorated paper,…

A technique used to hollow out the interior of a wooden statue. The hollow produced is also called uchiguri.…

An unbelted woman's outer garment worn over the *kosode 小袖 on formal occasions…

Lit. "fan painting." A painting either directly on a fan *uchiwa 団扇, or on a round format…

Also read dansen. A round or oval fan made of paper or silk pasted over a framework of thin strips of bamboo.…

Lit. "planting." A technique used to make wooden statues, where the hair and beard are made separately, and then attached to…

An abbreviation of Kongō sekishō zenshin uhō dōji 金剛赤精善神雨宝童子. A manifestation of the Buddha *…

A modern city in the southern part of Kyoto where the Byōdōin 平等院 (1052) is located. Historically, Uji was a resort for the…

A visual motif in the *yamato-e やまと絵 tradition, depicting the…

Lit. "Battles of the Uji 宇治 River." Two dramatic and decisive battles that took place near the Uji bridge, over the river,…

A small-sized preliminary sketch undertaken by an artist expressly at the request of a patron. These sketches may be…

Also written 有気絵. Woodblock prints or paintings *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 produced for an individual…

Also written 請花, 受華, 請華; sometimes pronounced ukehana. Flower-shaped support. A support in the shape of an open,…

Lit. "floating picture." Usually a woodblock print, in which the three-dimensionality of a scene is emphasized by using one…

Formerly known as hanshutsuzō 半出像. A relief, or a method used to carve a relief on a flat surface. Halfway…

A pictorial subject taken from "Ukifune" ("A Boat upon the Waters"), Chapter 51 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

Lit. "pictures of the floating world." Paintings and woodblock prints of genre themes developed from the mid-Edo to early…

Currents of Thought on Ukiyo-e, a series of biographies of *ukiyo-e …

Lit. "books of the floating world." Printed books containing illustrated prose stories which developed from the Kamigata…

Marigold, saffron yellow. A bright yellow dye taken from the root stalk of the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa).…

Paintings of horses on pairs of folding screen *byōbu 屏風. Beginning in the Heian…

A standing screen *tsuitate shōji 衝立障子 decorated with horses that was…

Also keima-zu 繋馬図. Paintings of horses tethered in a stable. Although the subject is found in a 13th-century…

A pictorial subject based on "Umegae" ("A Branch of Plum"), Chapter 32 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Also written 暈繝. Also *ungen zaishiki 繧繝彩色, lit. "rainbow coloring." A…

Also written 暈繝彩色. A method of coloring used in painting as well as for decorative motifs in crafts and architecture. Also…

1　Chinese: yunqiwen.
An ancient Chinese decorative design formed from C and S shapes. It is…

School of painters, founded by the 16th-century artist Unkoku Tōgan 雲谷等顔 (1547-1618), who considered themselves to be in the…

Lit. "cloud design." A broad classification of the various designs used to represent clouds. It is known throughout Asia,…

A painting technique used to apply metal foil *haku 箔 to the back…

The hero and title of an ancient tale of a fisherman and his magical journey to a palace beneath the sea. The details vary,…

A technique used to line or back a piece of paper or fabric. Generally, a strong piece of Japanese paper *…

A technique used to apply color to the reverse side of a painting. Pigments applied to the back of one part of a painting to…

1　Painting done with colored lacquer iro-urushi 彩漆, made by mixing pigments in a base of…

Lit. "lacquer coating." Lacquerware is also called shikki 漆器 (lacquerware) or nurimono 塗物 (coated things…

Lacquer. A non-resinous sap taken from Rhus verniciflua, a tree which grows in East Asian countries.…

See *nikkei 肉髻. A hemispherical protuberance emerging from the head of a…

Also usofuki, sometimes written 嘯吹. Lit. "bluffer or whistler"; a humorous mask used in kyōgen 狂言 plays.…

A pictorial subject taken from "Usugumo" ("A Rack of Clouds"), Chapter 19 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Also asanikubori 浅肉彫, asaukibori 浅浮彫, teiukibori 低浮彫, usuukibori 薄浮彫. A type of…

Ususama also Usushima 烏芻渋摩 is a transliteration of the Sanskrit Ucchusma, originally an epithet of Agni, the Indian…