Lit. Eighty-one Deity Mandala of the Adamantine Realm. A variety of *Kongōkai…

Lit. mandala of the Adamantine Realm (Sk: Vajradhatu mandala). A mandala *mandara…

A bell, usually of gilt bronze, rung during an Esoteric Buddhist service. Around the center of the handle are kimoku…

Lit. vajra pestle. A pestle-like object with pointed ends, derived from an Indian weapon. Usually made of gilt bronze, with…

Also written 金剛薬叉明王. Kongōyasha corresponds to Sanskrit vajrayaksa, which is also the name of one of the sixteen…

Also Kōnin jidai 弘仁時代 or, more frequently in art history, Jōgan jidai 貞観時代. The Kōnin-Jōgan…

A dark blue pigment traditionally derived from azurite or lapis-lazuli *gunjō…

Lit. Barbarian drunkard. Also Suikoraku 酔胡楽 or En'onraku 宴飲楽. A dance piece in *…

A tall (6 shaku 尺, or 181.8 cm), single-panel, standing screen *tsuitate…

Also synonymous with Kubira 宮毘羅. A god and leader of the *Yasha 夜又, the…

Bridal trousseau. An Edo period daimyō 大名 bride brought to her husbands' home a lavish set of household…

The Kōrakuji school. A hereditary school of Buddhist painters *ebusshi 絵仏師…

Also kōrin mon'yō 光琳文様. Decorative designs which resemble the work of the artist Ogata Kōrin 尾形光琳 (1658-1716…

Incense burner. Common materials are metal, pottery, horn, and lapis lazuli as well as various gems and woods. There are a…

Ch: Kunlun baxian. Lit. Eight Hermits of Mt. Konron. Also read Konron Hassen. Alternative name: Tsurumai…

Ch: goule. Also written 鈎勒 or 勾勒 and called sōroku 雙鉤. One of the two primary techniques of Chinese…

Also read yanagui and written 胡禄. A kind of quiver which hangs from the right side of the waist with the arrowheads…

The Kose school which was founded by Kose no Kanaoka 巨勢金岡, who held an important hereditary position in the 9th-century…

Type of screen similar to *makura byōbu 枕屏風 in format. They were slightly…

Ch: Kongzi. Confucius (551-479 BC). The seminal Chinese philosopher of the late Spring and Autumn period. His family name…

Lit: hip wrap. Part of the formal summer attire of elite warrior women, and placed over the *…

Ch: gengzhitu. Lit. pictures of agriculture and sericulture. In China the theme was originally reserved for court…

Lit. small sleeves. A modern generic name for all full-length garments made before the Meiji period. Originally a lower-…

Sometimes called *eden 絵伝. Pictorial biographies of revered Buddhist priests and…

Collection on Painting, a seminal Japanese book on Chinese paintings written in 1623 by Kano Ikkei 狩野一渓 (1599-1662), the…

Statue of a high priest. These portrait statues were often made by pupils as a sign of respect and reverence for their…

Also written 小手. Formerly tamaki 手纏, taōi 臂覆. A gauntlet that protected the arms and hands. It was…

The textual portion of an illustrated handscroll *emaki 絵巻. …

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing the spirit of a fox or other…

Dance of the Virtuous Barbarians, a piece in *bugaku 舞楽 and a…

A painting technique used to draw an object or motif in light ink strokes. Used since the Edo period during the final steps…

Also read koto. Also jidaiwatari 時代渡. Lit. Old importation. Foreign objects, including art works, books,…

Also written 香狭間, and abbreviated to *sama 狭間. Formerly called *…

Fine-cutting, the third stage in the making of a wooden sculpture. Following timber-cutting *…

Lit. neck tenon. A tenon *hozo ほぞ or projection made at the bottom…

Also called kubon ōjōraigō 九品往生来迎. The nine possible levels of birth into *…

Lit. pictures at the entrance. The frontispiece. An illustration or photograph on the first page of book or magazine.

1　Lit. dead leaves; a dull yellow color. Kuchiba dye is made by mixing yellow gardenia *…

Lit. rotted wood pattern. A decorative design pattern which resembles the grain of rotting wood. It is also considered by…

1　Also written 梔子. Reddish-yellow color and dye. Made from chopped, boiled seeds of the kuchinashi…

Korean: Paekche. One of the states in the Three Kingdoms period (Jp: Sangoku jidai 三国時代) of early Korean history, and…

The standard form of the *Kongōkai mandara 金剛界曼荼羅 widely used in Japan…

Lit. nail picture. A type of comic picture *giga 戯画 which Utagawa Kuniyoshi…

Lit. peacock king of those who hold knowledge. A female deity of Indian origin (Sk: Mahamayuri). The subject of the …

Early Heian period Buddhist priest (774-835), patriarch of the Shingon 真言 sect of Esoteric Buddhism mikkyō 密教…

Also written 暈取. Also called *ungen 繧繝. A general term for shading…

Devotional paintings of the three shrines of Kumano, Kumano Sanzan 熊野三山, which are called Hongū 本宮 (Kumano Nimasu Jinja…

A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing Kumasaka no Chōhan 熊坂長範…

Also written 粂仙人. A legendary immortal often depicted in Edo period painting. According to legend recorded in Konjaku…

A set of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints with a common theme. The distinction…

A base for a Buddhist image *daiza 台座 which takes the form of…

Also kunsu, kunshi 裙子, mo 裳. A skirt-like garment covering the lower part of a Buddhist priest's…

Also read keiba. Paintings of horse racing. Most often implies the horse races at Kamigamo Jinja 上賀茂神社 in Kyoto.

Also kuri 皀. A shade of black or dark grey. A dye of this color is made from tannin found in the oak tree Quercus…

Also known as Kurika 矩里迦, a transliteration of Sanskrit Kulika, the name of a dragon-king *…

Black beard. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a dragon god which…

Lit. black book. A type of illustrated novella which flourished between the 1740s and the 1790s. A type of *…

Also read Konron. Ch: Kunlun. Gigaku mask *gigakumen…

Colored *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints. Kusa-e fall into the…

Grass-color. A yellow-green color. To make a pigment of this color a blue pigment *aoni…

Illustrated popular fiction published in Edo from the mid-17th to the late 19th century. Narrative and dialogue was written…

A painting illustrating the tradition of the Abidatsumakusharon  阿毘達磨倶舎論 (Sk: Abhidharmakos'a), a renowned…

A bracelet, usually one produced before the mid-6th century. In the Jōmon period bracelets were made from bivalve shells,…

Kutani ware. The term was used from around 1803, but only the original, ko-kutani 古九谷 (old Kutani) was…

Ch: Qu Yuan (343?-278 BC). A Chinese scholar-official. The archetypal "sorrowful-poet" and noble exile. Because Qu composed…

An abbreviation of Kūya Shōnin 空也上人 or Saint Kūya (903-72), the monk responsible for the spread of Pure…

Also senkuza 氈く座, kyūza 毬座, or mōsenza 毛氈座. A dais *daiza…

1　Lit. paintings of sutra. A painting depicting the content of Buddhist sutra, however, is usually called…

Sutra box. Although usually rectangular these come in many shapes, having a lid and sometimes a foot. Typically the material…

The Chinese term for the dry lacquer technique, pronounced jiazhu in Chinese. In ancient Japanese documents dry lacquer was…

The Kyoto branch of the Kano school *Kano-ha 狩野派, founded by Kano…

Ch: Xiangyan Jizhu. Also read Kōgan gekichiku. A painting subject of the Tang dynasty Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) priest…

Also called *eiri kyōgenbon 絵入狂言本. An Edo period woodblock printed book…

Masks used for kyōgen 狂言 plays. Kyōgen is a comic theatre form, which together with the more serious *…

Proof prints made from the key block (the block that prints the dark outlines of a woodblock print *…

Originally, professionals who hand-copied sutras in the Nara period. Later the appellation referred to artisans who mounted…

Also written 挟侍. Also wakishi 脇士, wakidachi 脇立. Also pronounced attendant figures. In groups of Buddhist…

The mark 卍 manji on the chest of the Buddha. Kyōji is listed as one of the 32 attributes of Buddha *…

Also written 曲禄. Also less commonly called kyoku 曲 or kyokugi 曲木. Lit. curved wood. A chair made of…

Lit. apricot-kernel shape. This term refers to the eyes of Buddhist statues, which are wide open in the shape of an apricot…

Lit. whole body halo. A halo, *kōhai 光背 surrounding the head and body of a…

Armrest. The word was used in the Nara period, but amended to kyōsoku 脇息 in the mid-Heian period. Shapes are…

Also read munakazari, or kyōtetsu 胸綴. An ornament found on the breast of *…

Also kyō busshi 京仏師. Buddhist sculptors *busshi 仏師 associated with…

Kyoto ware. General name of the ceramic wares of Kyoto (except *rakuyaki…

Ch: Xu You Chao Fu. A painting subject representing two legendary Chinese scholar-hermits famous for their extreme…

Sutra cylinder. A container for the Buddhist sutras placed in the sutra mound kyōzuka 経塚: cylinders of circular,…

Ch: gongletu. Lit. Pictures of Pleasures at Court. A broad term referring to paintings of Chinese court ladies, often…

Ch: Jiulao. Lit. nine old friends. An abbreviation of Kyūrōkai-zu 九老会図 (Ch: Jiulaohuitu). Paintings zu…

A visor that projected from the front of a soidier's helmet *kabuto 冑. First…

A pictorial subject taken from "Maboroshi" ("The Wizard"), Chapter 41 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Painters born during the period extending from the Nanbokuchō through the Muromachi periods, when major social changes took…

A general term for the Kano school *Kano-ha 狩野派, or for Kano-…

Also omaedachi 御前立. Lit. "standing in front." A Buddhist sculpture, positioned on the altar in front of the shrine…

Abbreviation of maedatemono 前立物. Also tatemono 立物. An upstanding decoration found on the front of a…

Also written 摩崖仏. Ch: moyafo. Also known as magai sekibutsu 磨崖石仏 or 摩崖石仏. A Buddhist image carved into the…

Round chip box. Also called wagemono 綰物 (bent round object) or himono 檜物 (cypress object). A…

A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a young woman. The gracefully curved mouth…

Dancing old man. A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing an old god or…

Lit. "sprinkled picture." A technique which originated in the Heian period for lacquer ware decoration in which designs are…