Skip to main content

JAANUS

  • a (80)
  • b (75)
  • c (42)
  • d (45)
  • e (57)
  • f (51)
  • g (98)
  • h (156)
  • i (66)
  • j (64)
  • k (355)
  • m (126)
  • n (85)
  • o (58)
  • r (68)
  • s (323)
  • t (131)
  • u (53)
  • w (18)
  • y (67)
  • z (37)
  • (-) Art History (67)
  • Architecture (2)
  • Crafts (2)
  • Decorations (1)
  • Document (2)
  • General Terms (3)
  • Iconography (6)
  • Painting (45)
  • Sculpture (12)

Displaying 1 - 67 of 67
Title Contains Image(s) Description Keywords
Ya-no-ne 矢の根

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

Art History, Painting
Yadorigi 宿木 ✓

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

Art History, Painting, Document
yakan 野干

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

Art History, Sculpture
yakifude 焼筆

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

Art History, Painting
yakuko 薬壷

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

Art History, Sculpture
yakusha-e 役者絵

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

Art History, Painting
yakusha ehon 役者絵本

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

Art History, Painting
yakusha hyōbanki 役者評判記

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

Art History, Painting, Document
Yakushi keka 薬師悔過

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

Art History, Sculpture
Yakushi 薬師

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

Art History, Iconography
Yakuzan Rikō 薬山・李翱

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

Art History, Painting
Yakuzan shuchū no shu wo iru 薬山射麈中麈

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

Art History, Painting
yama-ai 山藍

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

Art History, Painting
Yamagoe no Amida 山越阿弥陀

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

Art History, Iconography
yamamomo 山桃

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

Art History, Painting
yamato-e やまと絵

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

Art History, Painting
yamato hyōgu 大和表具

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

Art History, Painting
yamatotoji 大和綴 ✓

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

Art History, Painting
Yamauba 山姥

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

Art History, Painting, Sculpture
yase-onna 痩女

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

Art History, Sculpture
yase-otoko 痩男

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

Art History, Sculpture
yasha 夜叉

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

Art History, Iconography
yashabushi やしゃぶし

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

Art History, Painting
Yashima kassen 屋島合戦

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

Art History, Painting
yatsuhashi 八橋 ✓

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

Architecture, Art History, Painting
Yayoi jidai 弥生時代

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

Art History, General Terms
yōfūga 洋風画

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

Art History, Painting
yōga 洋画

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

Art History, Painting
yogan-in 与願印

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

Art History, Sculpture
yohaku 余白

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

Art History, Painting
yōkai-e 妖怪絵

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

Art History, Painting
Yōkihi 楊貴妃

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

Art History, Painting
yōkō 洋紅

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

Art History, Painting
yokobue 横笛 ✓

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

Art History, Painting
Yokohama-e 横浜絵

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

Art History, Painting
yomihon 読本

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

Art History, Painting
Yomogiu 蓬生 ✓

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

Art History, Painting
yonkyoku byōbu 四曲屏風

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

Art History, Painting
yōraku 瓔珞

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

Art History, Sculpture, Architecture, Decorations
yorimasa 頼政

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

Art History, Sculpture
yoroboshi 弱法師

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

Art History, Sculpture
Yōryū Kannon 楊柳観音

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

Art History, Iconography
yoseki-zukuri 寄木造

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

Art History, Sculpture
Yoshino jidai 吉野時代

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

Art History, General Terms
Yoshino 吉野

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

Art History, Painting
Yoshino mandara 吉野曼茶羅

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

Art History, Iconography
Yoshitsune 義経

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

Art History, Painting
Yoshiwara 吉原

The licensed pleasure and prostitution quarter of Edo. First established in 1617 near Nihonbashi 日本橋 by Shōji Jin'emon…

Art History, Painting
yotsuwaribishi 四割菱 ✓ Also waribishi 割菱, takedabishi 武田菱. A decorative pattern that consists of a diamond shape divided into four smaller… Art History, Painting
Yotsuya kaidan 四谷怪談

A pictorial subject in *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 taken from the popular *…

Art History, Painting
Yūgao 夕顔 ✓

A pictorial subject taken from "Evening Faces" Yūgao, Chapter 4 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Art History, Painting
yūgen 幽玄

Lit. "profound mystery." A multivalent and influential medieval aesthetic ideal expressing darkness, depth, mystery,…

Art History, General Terms
yūgeza 遊戯坐 ✓

Also read yūgiza (Sk: lalitasana). A seated position for a Buddhist image, usually a bodhisattva *…

Art History, Sculpture
Yūgiri 夕霧 ✓

A pictorial subject taken from the "Evening Mist" Yuugiri, Chapter 39 of Genji monogarari 源氏物語 (The…

Art History, Painting
Yuima 維摩

Sk: Vimalakirti (pure reputation); Ch: Weimo. Indian Buddhist layman (Ch: jushi, Jp: koji 居士) famous for…

Art History, Iconography
yūjo-e 遊女絵

*ukiyo-e 浮世絵 beauty prints *bijinga 美人画…

Art History, Painting
yūjo hyōbanki 遊女評判記

An Edo period "Who's Who" of prostitutes in the pleasure districts. The yūjo hyōbanki was one of two major…

Art History, Painting
yūki ganryō 有機顔料

Organic pigment. An insoluble paint material *ganryō 顔料 made from animal…

Art History, Painting
Yume no ukihashi 夢浮橋 ✓

A pictorial subject taken from "The Floating Bridge of Dreams" Yume no ukihashi, Chapter 54 of Genji monogatari…

Art History, Painting
yumiharizuki 弓張月

Lit. "Crescent Moon;" loaded or pulled bow (shaped) moon. A pictorial subject in *ukiyo-e…

Art History, Painting
Yuminagashi 弓流し

Lit. "drifting bow." A pictorial subject depicting an incident at the Battle at Yashima *…

Art History, Painting
yuna 湯女

A low class of prostitutes during the Genna 元和 and Kan'ei 寛永 eras (1615-44). Typically, after meeting customers by washing…

Art History, Painting
yūraku zu 遊楽図

Lit. "depictions of amusements." A major category of genre painting *fūzokuga…

Art History, Painting
yūsoku mon'yō 有職文様

Traditional design motifs, used either in single units or repeated to create patterns, based on designs from Heian courtly…

Art History, Painting
yūyaku 釉薬

Also yū 釉 or uwagusuri. Glaze. In the heat of firing, clay particles vitrify to form a glass matter…

Art History, Crafts
yūzen-zome 友禅染

Yūzen style dyeing. A form of paste-resist dyeing with beautiful colors and pictorial designs named after the Kyoto…

Art History, Crafts
Yūzū Nenbutsu engi 融通念仏縁起

The History and Benefits of the Yūzū Nenbutsu engi. A handscroll theme recounting the early history of the Yūzū…

Art History, Painting

Contributor Login

JAANUS is the on-line Dictionary of Japanese Architectural and Art Historical Terminology compiled by Dr. Mary Neighbour Parent.

Originally built by the Atsumi International Scholarship Foundation, it is now hosted and maintained by the Media Center for Art History at Columbia University