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

A lid with a high center used for a tea ceremony kettle *chanoyugama…

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

1　An alternative term for all or part of the earth-floored area, *doma…

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

Lit. "thin sills." A lintel and sill used under and above transom *ranma 欄間.…

Also written 臼当; also called dōzuki 胴付. The recessed surface of a wooden member that surrounds a protruding tenon…

1　A small-scale freestanding structure containing a mortar or hand mill, usu 臼, for pounding rice…

1　Also written 薄葉. An extremely thin piece of paper, usually *…

A series of paintings, usually in handscroll format, arranged as if in a poetry contest uta-awase 歌合, where poems…

Lit. "poem-painting."

1　A painting which illustrates the setting described in a Japanese poem, …

Lit. "singing nuns." A type of mid-Edo period prostitute who dressed to resemble Buddhist nuns bikuni and chanted…

Lit. "Utagawa school." The most prolific school of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists in the late Edo…

Also read Udennō. Lit. "King Udayana." An Indian king, reportedly the first person to commission a statue of the Buddha. The…

A hill on the border between the Abe 安部 and Shida 志太 districts of Suruga 駿河 Province (present day Shizuoka Prefecture). A…

Also written 空柱. Lit. "hollow pillar." A box-like down-spout tatedoi 竪樋 used to carry rainwater from roof gutters…

Also called tanihiragawara 谷平瓦. Lit. "broad valley tile." A slightly concave tile used in the valley formed by the…

A pictorial subject based on "Utsusemi" ("The Shell of the Locust"), Chapter 3 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

A simplification or change in the form of a painting which may occur during the copying process. When the shape or position…

A copy or a facsimile. The term refers not only to copies of calligraphy or painting, but also reproductions of ceramics. In…

Also called tenba 天端.

1　The top surface of an object, or the peak of a structural member.…

Also written 上貼, also called visible top layer keshōbari 化粧張, front side hyōmenbari 表面張 or finishing…

1　The upper corners of any beam cut at an angle.

2　The upper corners of the…

Also pronounced uwagi.

1　The uppermost timber of two joined structural elements. Often…

The upper-most eave of a nokizuke 軒付 or nokiba 軒端 eave end. Each part of the eave has a name. The…

1　Also shiagenuri 仕上げ塗. The final layer applied to a decorative painting sōshoku kōji…

The top or finishing coat of a mud plaster wall, tsuchimonokabe 土物壁 or ōtsukabe 大津壁.

A temporary roof or simple structure erected over a building that is being dismantled for repairs or reconstruction. Modern…

Also called tori-no-shita 鳥の舌 (lit. "bird's tongue"). A somewhat triangular piece of wood added to a bracket arm *…

A board with a carved spiral-like uzusen 渦線 linear design. It is found on frog-leg struts *…

Also written 宇豆柱. The pillars at center, front, and rear of the main prayer hall *honden…

Also uzumakimon 渦巻文, uzugata 渦形, volute, scroll. A decorative spiral pattern found throughout the world on…

Lit. "buried gate."

1　A gate constructed within the stone walls of a castle. It was used to connect…

Lit. "curly young leaf."
A decorative pattern resembling leaves with curved tips. It has been used on ornamental roof…

Also tsumegawara 爪瓦. A row of narrow tile pieces cut crosswise from semi-cylindrical tiles *…

A Japanese castle. Refers to 25 castles constructed in various regions of Korea by the Japanese forces during the Bunroku-…

1　An abstract decorative pattern of extended curved lines based on the form of a leaf. The pattern is…

Lit. "Shinto image of a young prince." A generic term covering both images of a divine son of the main enshrined Shinto…

Lit. "young lavender." A pictorial subject based on "Wakamurasaki" ("Lavender"), Chapter 5 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語…

A pictorial subject taken from "Wakana" ("New Herbs"), which is divided into two parts, making up Chapters 34 and 35 of …

Young girl. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a young woman. The mature…

Young man. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a young commoner with…

The wakiagari allowed visitors to enter or leave the residence from a waiting palanquin kago 駕篭 without…

Shelves forming part of an arrangement in the space next to the decorative alcove *…

A small door, usually beside the main door of a structure. Sometimes there is one on each side of the main door.

A plane used to smooth the sides of a groove, particularly in a doorsill or lintel, after the base plane, *…

Lit. "side gable pendant." Also *kudarigegyo 降懸魚, *…

A secondary *honjin 本陣, authorized by the Tokugawa 徳川 government for the…

Side sanctuary. Areas beside the main hall *hondō 本堂 of a Buddhist…

A side entrance to a castle. A small, inconspicuous entrance located on the side of a castle, in contrast with the main gate…

A long, narrow, vertical wall constructed between two or more pillars, or on each side of an entrance or a window.

Also read *ekimon 掖門. A side gate or a small gate on one or both sides of a…

Wooden screens placed at the back ends of side verandas *en 縁. They…

The left and right sides of a purlin *keta 桁.

A frame constructed around the perimeter of a window or doorway; the opening into which sliding panels and other structural…

Also called nihon kugi 日本釘. A square nail used during and after the Kofun period. The nail was made of hand-wrought…

Two bracket arms *hijiki 肘木 positioned at right angle to one…

Japanese style mirrors. Wakyō were developed as part of toilet sets in the Heian period. Previously large and…

Lit. "Japanese things." A term used in *chanoyu 茶湯 in…

A tenon referred to as channeled or as fingered. It is used on king posts *shinzuka…

Wanagikomi is an angle joint, also called an open mortise and tenon joint, a slip slot or finger mortise. It…

A wristlet. A decorative ring *kansen 鐶釧 found on the wrists of…

Short for warabidegata suihotsu 蕨手形垂髪. Strands of hair *suihotsu…

Also warabimon 蕨文. A design pattern which represents the bracken fern in spring when it gives out curling shoots.…

Also warabide. A style of ornamentation which features a curved design based on curling bracken shoots. It is found…

Stiff brushes made of beaten straw. Warafude were popular with the *Kano-ha…

Lit. "laughing old man." A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a…

1　Rope made by twisting together strands of straw. In clay statuary, the central wooden core *…

1　Also called enza, maruza 円座, or ukeza kanamono 受座金物. The metal or…

To cover or enclose with split bamboo. For example, found on the doors of a simple garden gate teimon 庭門 with a…

Also called wariguri 割栗, kuri-ishi 栗石 or guri ぐり (lit. "stones crushed like chestnuts"). Rock…

The surface of a member that was split vertically by pounding in a wedge *kusabi…

A sculpture technique used to carve a large hollow space *uchiguri…

Lit. "divided worship hall." A long structure under a single roof divided in the center by a passageway *…

Lit. "splitting gauge." The splitting gauge is used to mark thin pieces of wood along the grain so that it can be broken…

A wood statue technique used to join the head and body at the neck. The head and body of a Buddha statue are carved from a…

1　An extremely strong joint that uses a blind wedge-split tenon warikusabi hozo 割楔ほぞ to join two…

The interval between the vertical slats *tateko 竪子 and horizontal…

Handmade Japanese paper made from long natural fibers. Most commonly used fibers include mulberry kōzo 楮 (see *…

Eagle-nosed fierce old man. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面, representing a…

Also called *ireko-ita 入子板. A board that connects the rails and crosspieces…

Also written 綿鼻. A molding *kurigata 繰形 in the shape of a silk-…

1　A connecting gallery or tower inside a square compound *masugata…

Also called *agokaki 腮欠, agokake 腮掛. A cogged right-angled joint…

1　Lit. "Japanese style architecture." The architectural techniques and styles introduced from China during…

A bracket arm *hijiki 肘木 that is characterized by curved surfaces on the…

A railing in the wayō style *wayō 和様. The horizontal…