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…

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…

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…

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

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…

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

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

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…

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…

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

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

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…

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.…

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

Emaciated man. Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a ghost suffering in hell. Lean…

Also yakusha 薬叉 (Sk: yaksa), a class of semi-divine beings usually considered to be of a benevolent and…

Also written 夜叉付子. A brown vegetable dye senryō 染料 made from the alder tree (Alnus firma), which…

A pictorial subject depicting scenes from the Battle at Yashima, an important engagement in the Genpei Battles Genpei…

1　Lit. "eight bridges." A type of low bridge built over a shallow pond or marsh using wooden planks without…

The Yayoi period (ca. 400 BCE to 250 CE). The period is marked by the establishment of rice cultivation and an agrarian…

Western-influenced paintings and prints produced in Japan before the Meiji period, including *…

Western-style painting produced during the Meiji period. Yōga employed the use of western materials such as oil…

Lit. "wish-granting mudra (Sk: varada mudra)"; also segan-in 施願印. A mudra or hand gesture *…

A blank, unpainted space. It is considered one of the identifying characteristics of both Chinese and Japanese painting.…

Also bakemono-e 化物絵 and yūrei-e 幽霊絵. *Ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints that depict…

Ch: Yang Guifei (719-56). The famous Chinese beauty and concubine of Emperor Xuanzong (Jp: *…

Carmine, a crimson pigment. An alkaline organometallic compound, taken from the female cochineal insect which lives on…

A pictorial subject based on "The Flute," Yokobue, Chapter 37 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Also Yokohama 横浜 *ukiyo-e 浮世絵. Late ukiyo-e prints which depicted foreigners at the port…

Lit. "reading books." An Edo period woodblock printed novel prevalent from the mid to late Edo period that focused on…

A pictorial subject based on "The Wormwood Patch" Yomogiu, Chapter 15 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

Also yomaiori byōbu 四枚折屏風. A folding screen with four panels. Before the 12th or 13th century, this type of screen…

1　A string of beads or lacework used to decorate Buddhist statues and objects. Often found on Bodhisattva…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a 12th-century warrior-poet of the Seiwa Genji…

Priest with faltering step. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a blind young boy…

Also called Yakuō Kannon 薬王観音. Lit. "Willow Kannon" or "*Kannon 観音 with a willow branch…

Also read yosegi zukuri. Formerly called kiyose zukuri 木寄造 or yoseai zukuri 寄合造. Antomym of *…

The Yoshino period. A seldom-used, rather old-fashioned term for the Southern and Northern Courts period *…

An area in Mt. Ōmine 大峰, Nara, most famous for cherry blossoms. Important not only as a place of great scenic beauty, but…

Devotional paintings of the deities and landscape of Mt. *Yoshino 吉野. Yoshino…

The tragic warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune 源義経 (1159-89), whose many exploits both real and legendary are recounted in…