A high gate that is often referred to as a two-storied gate, but in fact does not have two stories. Generally, it is an…

Also called koshikake daruki 腰掛垂木, ranji daruki 鸞翅垂木, or tenbō daruki 天望垂木.
A flying rafter *…

A type of Chinese paper *karakami 唐紙. Decorated paper imported to Japan…

Lapis lazuli. Vaidurya in Sanskrit. Originally it meant lapis lazuli or emerald, but from the Six Dynasties period, Chinese…

Lit. "lapis lazuli tile." A tile to which a blue glaze ruriyū 瑠璃釉 has been applied. The glaze is made from…

Also read "Roshanabutsu." The Rushana Buddha. Rushana is an abbreviation of Birushana 昆盧舎那 in turn a…

Lit. "abbreviated gooseneck joint." An elongated halving joint. The desired length of timber is cut in half lengthwise. The…

Ch: Lu Dongbin. Also called Lu Yan (Jp: Ryo Gan 呂巌) or Chunyangzi (Jp: Jun'yōshi 純陽子).
A popular Daoist hero,…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing the suffering spirit of a woman…

A type of bamboo fence used at Ryōanji 龍安寺, a Zen temple in Kyoto. It is characterized by thick split bamboo that cross…

A double-edged utility saw. A widely used saw which has rip-saw teeth on one side of the blade and crosscut teeth on the…

Also *kannonbiraki tobira 観音開扉, double doors that open in one…

Also called yotsuashi torii 四脚鳥居, gongen torii 権現鳥居, or chigobashira torii 稚児柱鳥居. A Shinto shrine…

Lit. "mandala of the two realms," namely, the *Taizōkai mandara 胎蔵界曼荼羅…

Wedges used on the right and left sides to strengthen and to secure a penetrating tie beam inserted into a pillar.

Lit. "green-glazed roof tiles." A decorative green glaze is applied to the pendants *gatō…

Also ryōmegaki 両目垣. An interlocking bamboo fence. Bamboo, about 3 cm in diameter, are cut in half vertically and…

Also abbreviated to ryōnagare 両流. A style of main sanctuary *honden…

Also Raryōō 羅陵王, Ranryōō 蘭陵王 (King Lanling), and Ryūō 龍王 (Dragon King, see *…

1　The part of the kitchen where the finishing stages of food preparation took place and where meals were…

A type of gable roof *kirizuma-zukuri 切妻造. Also called…

A gable roof *kirizuma-zukuri 切妻造, which has no gable…

Paper used for writing and painting; for documents, classical books, Buddhist sutras etc. Ryōshi used in Japan…

The decoration of paper used for calligraphy and painting *ryōshi 料紙. Paper…

A summer house, arbor, or pavilion that provided a cool resting place in a garden.

Also written 竜. Ch: long. A dragon.
1　Mythological animal and cosmological symbol of Chinese…

Lit. "dragon pond style." A type of garden featuring a sharply curving pond reminiscent of a dragon's serpentine body. Good…

Lit. "dragon palace style." An uncommon double-storied gate. The lower story has a flat arched entrance whereby the same…

Ch: longhutu. Painting of a dragon *ryū 龍 and tiger …

Lit. "dragon's gate cascade." One type of cascade *baku 瀑 found in Japanese…

Lit. "dragon vehicle." The round or oval section of a pagoda finial *sōrin…

Lit. "flowing water appreciation style garden."
A general term used to designate any garden focused around a stream.…

A design pattern which represents flowing water. One of the oldest designs in Japan, it appears as parallel 'S' lines…

Lit. "flowing water style of pond and stream."
A type of water feature in a garden that includes a curving water course.…

Lit. "willow leaf shelf."
A single decorative shelf constructed a little below the cabinets, tenbukuro 天袋,…

Also read ritsuzō. A Buddhist image which is standing, as opposed to seated (see *…

A pictorial subject taken from Arrowhead, the play from the *kabuki…

A pictorial subject taken from "Yadorigi" ("The Ivy"), Chapter 49 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji…

Lit. "eightfold fence." A type of double-screen sleeve fence *sodegaki 袖垣 in…

A widely used moat with sides that slope like an earthen embankment. The name is derived from the moat having a bottom with…

Also written 櫓烟出. Also read yagura kemuridashi. An opening constructed in a thatched roof to allow the escape of…

A guard tower set atop the corners of a castle's stone wall and other strategic positions overlooking the surrounding area.…

Also called a watari yaguramon 渡櫓門 or just *watari yagura 渡櫓. A…

The largest sized roof tile used to connect the turret corridors *watari yagura…

Commonly double-penetrating, diagonally placed beams that connect the main post *…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a small Chinese fox. Its thin-lipped, slightly…

1　A ceiling with the same pitch as the roof. Really, an exposed ceiling *…

Also written 屋形城.

1　A structure that combines the daily living quarters of a mansion with the…

Lit. "burned brush." A wooden stick with a burned tip. Like charcoal used in western style painting, yakifude is…

A bisque ware or unglazed pagoda. Plain, unglazed small pagodas are called deitō 泥塔, meaning mud pagodas.…

Also kaname-ishi 要石. Rocks and stones which in a tea garden *roji 露地…

1　The parts of a stone wall such as exterior corners, top surfaces, or openings for drainage where…

Also read yakugi. The allocation of shrubbery in a garden, particularly applied to trees which set the mood of a…

Lit. "roles of branches." The branches of a flower or tree that are given a name based on their "role" in the structure of…

A generic term for all types of roof tiles which serve a special purpose. These tiles include: sleeve tiles *…

A gate with a gable roof constructed with two square or rectangular main posts and two square or circular secondary posts *…

A medicine jar, found on the palm of the left hand in figures of *Yakushi 薬師, the…

A type of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print which shows one or several actors in a stage pose or…

Lit. "picture books illustrating actors." Books that bound together actor prints, but also included theater and stage scenes…

Printed books criticizing actors' skills. Theater reviews were not published in booklet form until 1656 with Yakusha-no-…

Keka 悔過 is a term used in Buddhism meaning repentance of one's sins, and refers to the chanting of prayers to…

The name of the Buddha associated with healing. Sino-Japanese rendering of Sanskrit Bhaisajyaguru, meaning "Medicine Master…

A Buddhist temple hall housing a statue of *Yakushi 薬師 (Sk: Bhaisajyaguru), the Buddha…

Ch: Yaoshan Li'ao. A Zen 禅 painting subject depicting the philosophical debate between the Tang dynasty hermit-priest…

Ch: Yaoshan she chenzhongchen; lit. "Yakusan's Shooting of the Great King of the Big Deers." A Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan)…

Lit. "mountain indigo." Perennial plant 30-40 cm high, Mercurialis leiocarpa Sieb. et zuc., used to make a blue dye…

Lit. "mountain stone." A generic name for stones found or quarried in the mountains. Unlike sea stones *…

Also read Yamagoshi no Amida; Amida yamagoe (yamagoshi) raigō 阿弥陀山越来迎. Lit. "Amida…

A mountain castle entrance. The entrance *koguchi 虎口 of a mountain…

Lit. "mountain castle." A castle built on a mountain to take advantage of the mountain's topography. One of the three main…

Lit. "mountain eye pounding and inserting piling." A dry construction method used to pile stones for a stone wall *…

A window used especially in the Zen style *zenshūyō 禅宗様; a type of ogival…

Also written 楊梅樹. A brown vegetable dye senryō 染料 obtained from the evergreen tree Myrica rubra,…

1　An abbreviation for yamatouchi-no-to 大和打の戸 or yamatouchi 大和打. A door that has vertical…

Lit. "gardens in the style of Japanese painting." Also called sakuteikiryū 作庭記流 (gardens in the lineage of the…

Also written 大和絵 and 倭絵. A widely used description term which has carried various nuances in different periods, but…

The most commonly used style of mounting hanging scrolls *kakemono 掛物 in…

A fence made of widths of bleached bamboo spaced about 45 cm apart and held in place by bark. This type of fence is used in…

1　A type of board roofing made by first spacing boards of equal width at predetermined intervals and then…

A type of bamboo lattice entwined with wisteria vine set in a window opening *…

An alternative term for a roof style found on Edo period farmhouses nōka 農家, called *…

Also musubitoji 結び綴じ, lit. "knot-binding." The simplest style of book-binding, and usually a type of pouch-binding…

Also read Yamanba. Oni-onna 鬼女 (demonic woman) or yama-onna 山女 (mountain woman) are used occasionally.…

Lit. "willow shelf." An asymmetrical arrangement of three decorative shelves tokowakidana 床脇棚 arranged in the…

Also yanagikakekugi 柳掛け釘. A nail hammered into a partially plastered post yanagibashira 柳柱 (see *…

Also yamadake 屋間竹. The bamboo purlins, about 20-30 cm in circumference, that are placed about 30-36 cm apart over a…

A generic name for various types of roofing boards including *noji-ita…

The construction of the roof framework or roof truss over the body of a building. The essential framing for a gable roof *…

Also called okugai 屋蓋, lit. "roof covering." A generic term for various types of roofs, roof styles, and roofing.…

Roofing or roof covering. The most commonly used types of roofing are clay tiles *…

Rethatching, retiling, or reshingling a roof whereby old roofing is replaced with new roofing.

Also kobanekugi 小羽根釘. Small round bamboo roofing nails, with a diameter between 2.1 to 2.8 mm and a length from 50…

1　See *keshō yaneura 化粧屋根裏.

2　An…

Lit. "broken well crib." Also yabureigeta. A design used for muntins *kumiko…

A plane thought to have been the only plane employed in ancient times to pare and finish timber. Today carpenters do not use…

Lit. "water course." An archaic term for a shallow, curving garden stream. The term, found in the 11th-century garden manual…

A loophole for thrusting pikes and spears. Typically, they are installed in narrow locations beside main castle entrances…

Also *yasaka-zukuri 祇園造. A style of shrine architecture which began in the…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing the suffering spirit of a woman who dies from…