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 referred to as zasei 坐勢 (Sk: asana). A seated position for a Buddhist image. Ancient Indian ascetics used…

A collector's seal, kanzō-in 鑑蔵印, which was impressed on Song and Yuan dynasties paintings *…

Also Kongō Zaō Bosatsu 金剛蔵王菩薩. The deity of Kinpusen 金峰山 in Nara, one of the most important deities of the Japanese…

Lit. "Eight parlor views"; a parody of eight views *hakkei 八景, in which…

A Buddhist image which is seated, as opposed to standing *ryūzō 立像. The…

Gourd-shaped shumon 朱文 style seal introduced into Japan from China during the Song and Yuan dynasties. Today there…

Lit. "paintings of Zen 禅 meetings." Paintings that depict a philosophical dialogue between a Zen priest and a layman,…

A school of Buddhist sculptors *bussho 仏所, who often used the character 'Zen' 善…

Commonly known as Zendō Daishi 善導大師 (Ch: Shandao Dashi, 613-81) or Great Master Zendō . The third patriarch of Pure…

Lit. "Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) painting." A modern and somewhat ambiguous term often used to indicate painting and calligraphy that…

Ch: Chanyueyang Luohan. A type of ink painting of arhats or *rakan 羅漢…

Also abbreviated to zengohagi 前後矧. A method of making a wooden statue where the statue is carved in two separate…

An early type of folding screen *byōbu 屏風, in which panels are individually made…

Lit. "meditation mudra." A mudra or hand gesture *in 印, formed by placing the palms…

Lit. "paintings of Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) occasions." Illustrations of acts (including dialogues) which led to enlightenment. The…

Images of the *Amida 阿弥陀 trinity made in the style of the Amida trinity at Zenkōji 善光寺 in…

Also known as Zenmyō nyoshin 善妙女神. A deity that protects the Kegon 華厳 sect of Buddhism. According to the legend, a…

Lit. "Dragon King Zennyo." The subject of a painting by one of the disciples of *Kūkai 空海…

Lit. "full-size paper." Paper having the same size as that produced in the factory. The size varied according to each period…

The general term used for any art related to the practice of Zen 禅 Buddhism in Japan. Zen flourished in Japan in the…

Lit. "images of patriarchs of Zen 禅 sects." Paintings of Zen patriarchs. Although all schools of Buddhism create images of…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面, representing a young angel, goddess or enlightened woman.…

Also Tōdaiji Zōbussho 東大寺造仏所. A workshop which made statues for Tōdaiji 東大寺 in Nara. In 748, the government set up a…

Government-run workshops making Buddhist statues during the Nara period. Post-9th-century independent and temple-run…

Sk: Virudhaka. A fierce-looking guardian deity *funnusō 忿怒相, believed to…

Inlay. It is also written 象眼 (elephant eye). A decoration technique in which the surface of such materials as metal, pottery…

A portrait of a lay person in formal secular dress. This contrasts with the more numerous portraits of Buddhist priests…

Offertory mask. Cloth or paper masks used in *bugaku 舞楽 in the pieces *…

Also nōnyūhin 納入品, tainai nōnyūhin 胎内納入品, tainai nōnyūbutsu 胎内納入物. Objects found in the…

A patron. A person who requests the building of a Buddhist temple or work of art.

Also zōzōki daiki 造像題記, zōzōmei 造象銘. A record that keeps track of the completion and repair dates of a…

A name given to a sandalwood statue of Shaka Nyorai 釈迦如来 (in the same style as the figure in Seiryōji 清涼寺, Kyoto). See *…

Lit. head light. A nimbus or halo that encircles the head of an image of a Buddhist deity. In the case of sculpture it is…

A yellow pigment *ganryō 顔料, made from the bark of the deciduous…

Miniature shrine shelf. A cabinet shrine *zushi 厨子, used to store the writing…

Iconographic sketches of Buddhist images done in simple ink drawing (see *hakubyō…

Selected Iconography, a late Heian compendium on Buddhist iconography. Also called Jikkanshō 十巻抄 (…