Lit. "Discussion of Western Painting," Shiba Kōkan's 司馬江漢 (1747-1818) slim theoretical work in praise of Western naturalism…

An impromptu painting done upon request at a meeting with a guest or patron. It is recorded that Kano Kagenobu 狩野景信(fl. ca.…

Ch: Chibi. Lit. "Red Cliff." A painting subject of a peak in Hubei 湖北 Province featured in the prose-poem The Red Cliff…

Also yūō 雄黄. Orpiment, king's yellow. A lustrous yellow pigment *ganryō…

Ch: jixue kanshu. Lit. "reading by the light of piled snow." A Chinese painting subject depicting the dedication…

A pictorial subject based on "Sekiya" ("The Gatehouse"), Chapter 16 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a young prince who is blind from…

Lit. "mudra for bestowing fearlessness (Sk: abhaya or abhayadana or abhayaprada mudra)." A mudra…

A pictorial subject in *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 taken from Senbonzakura (One…

Also written 甎仏 or 磚仏. Japanese buddhist images in relief on unglazed clay tiles sen せん which are square,…

1　An alternative term for *byakudan 白檀.

2…

Ch: qianjiang shanshui. A type of Chinese landscape painting using light red coloring for rocks and trees. The…

Lit. "Warring States period." The period began with the outbreak of the Ōnin Wars (Ōnin no ran 応仁の乱, 1467-77) and…

Votive papers. Small slips of paper on which pilgrims to temples and shrines wrote their names and addresses and which were…

Lit. "ideogram of the character sen 宣." A dais *daiza 台座 for a Buddhist…

Sk: Sahasrabhuja-arya-avalokitesvara. Thousand-armed Kannon or *Kannon 観音 with…

Screens decorated with fan paintings. There are two basic types of senmen byōbu: fan painting taken from used or…

Also ōgi-e 扇絵. Paintings or calligraphy on paper fans. In Japan, two basic types of fans have been used since the…

A flutter book. A variation of an accordion book *orihon 折本 in which a single…

Ch: Chuanzi Jiashan. A painting subject of the meeting between the Chinese ＣChan 禅 (Jp: Zen) priests Chuanzi (Jp: …

Lit. "thousand Buddhas." Sometimes abbreviated to senbutsu 千仏. A large number of Buddhist images, usually the same…

Lit. "the Buddha *Amida 阿弥陀 preaching a sermon seppō…

Lit. "the exposition of the Dharma mudra." A mudra or hand gesture *in 印…

Ch: Shisheng wenji. Also shashin monge 捨身聞偈 (Ch: Sheshen wenji). Lit. "giving up the body to hear…

Lit. "stone river." A bugaku 舞楽 mask *bugakumen 舞楽面…

Ch: zhezhihua. Lit. "cut-branch flowers." A type of highly idealized Chinese flower painting that focuses on a…

Seto 瀬戸 ware. Pottery made in Seto city and nearby areas of modern Aichi Prefecture. The Seto area was the center of pottery…

Painting subjects of winter snow, the autumn moon, and spring cherry blossoms, often presented in a triptych format. The…

Fundamental Advice for Students, a late Muromachi period treatise on painting technique attributed to the painter…

Ch: zhelumiao. Lit. "bent-reed drawing." An ink-painting technique that employs brush strokes with pronounced…

The painting of any kind of narrative story such as popular folk tales, war stories, novels, diaries, etc. The term has come…

A representation or drawing created from the imagination or from the feeling or spirit of the object rather than from its…

Often abbreviated to engi-e 縁起絵. Paintings of the origins and history of a temple or shrine, usually amplified with…

Lit. "eight phases (or aspects) of Shakamuni *Shaka 釈迦." Also referred to as…

Lit. "Shaka triad." A group of 3 Buddhist images composed of *Shaka …

1　Abbreviation of Shakamuni 釈迦牟尼 or Shakamon 釈迦文 (Sk: Sakyamuni), meaning sage of the Sakyas. The name by…

Also shake. A style of topknot *hōkei 宝髻 in the shape of…

Ch: Shiqiao. Lit. "stone bridge." A bridge on Mt. Tiantai 天台山 (Jp: Tendai) in eastern Zhejiang 浙江 Province, China. Mt.…

Also ushōjō 有声杖, chijō 智杖, and tokujō 徳杖. Sk: khakkhara. A pilgrim's staff or sistrum.…

Oblique glance. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a middle-aged…

Also konnyakubon 蒟蒻本 or kohon 小本 (typically made of folded half-sized *…

Also sari, busshari 仏舎利. Sk: sarira, dhatu 駄都. The bones of the Buddha. After the death of Buddha…

Reliquary. A container for the bones of the Buddha *shari 舎利 placed in a stupa or pagoda. In…

Realistic sketches of nature made for study purposes, often in small handscroll format and later mounted in an album. The…

A seal used for private as opposed to official matters. The use of shi-in became popular in China after the Tang…

Ch: siai. Lit. "the four favorites." A painting subject of four beloved flowers and the four Chinese literati who…

Ch: Sima Guang (1019-86); also called Sima Wenguan (Jp: Shiba Onkō 司馬温光), and used the name Junshi (Jp: Kunjitsu 君実). A…

Lit. "ranking lists of plays." A generic term for a *kabuki 歌舞伎 playbill. A…

A pictorial subject taken from the *kabuki 歌舞伎 play by the same…

One of the three painting studios or guilds za 座 of the *nanto-…

Tie dye. A name for a resist-dyeing technique and the fabric made by it. Shibori 絞 designates a huge variety of…

Lit. "the Four Buddhas."

1　The first four Buddhas said to have appeared during the current era of…

Lit. "Seven Buddhas of Healing." Seven manifestations of *Yakushi 薬師 or the…

Lit. "the seven gods of good fortune." The group comprises *Ebisu 恵比須, *…

A Buddhist sculpture workshop *bussho 仏所 located in Kyoto's…

A Buddhist sculpture workshop *bussho 仏所 located in Kyoto's…

Ch: jiuniaotu. Lit. "pictures of eagles and hawks." A painting subject that features eagles and hawks but may…

An old name for purple pigments *ganryō 顔料 and dyes senryō…

A hanging scroll with a literary inscription written above an ink painting. This format is a visual extension of the ancient…

1　Also shigami 獅噛 (biting lion), or hagami 歯噛 (biting teeth). A Noh mask *…

Shigaraki 信楽 ware. Sueki 須恵器 ware was made in this clay-rich area from early times, but a distinctive ware fired in…

A paper support for painting or calligraphy.

A pictorial subject taken from "Shiigamoto" ("Beneath the Oak"), Chapter 46 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale…

Ch: si'erhu. A jar with four lug handles (loop ears) around the mouth or neck of the jar, the handles may be round…

Lit. "pictures of the riverbed at fourth avenue Shijōgawara 四条河原." Shijōgawara was the amusement center of Kyoto…

Also written 四厥, also kongōketsu 金剛厥. Lit. "four pickets." A set of four posts, put up at each corner of a…

Paintings of the four seasons. The term designates representations of Japanese landscapes, flora, and people engaged in…

Paintings of birds and flowers representative of each of the four seasons. Most often these comprise a set of screens on…

A mandala produced for a specific ceremony or ritual use. Lit. "*mandara 曼荼羅…

The bulging sphere which is below the lotus petals *renben 蓮弁 in the narrow…

Dyes and pigments. A collective name for all insoluble pigments *ganryō 顔料 and…

Thick colored square sheets of paper used for calligraphic poems or paintings. During the mid-Heian and Kamakura periods,…

Also called kakuban 角判. Lit. "poem card format." A size of *ukiyo-e…

Colored, square-shaped paper inscribed with verses, then cut and pasted onto the upper portion of large screens and sliding…

Paintings produced for general sale rather than upon the specific request of a patron. These works are therefore comparable…

A purple dye senryō 染料 made from the roots of the perennial plant Gromwell (Lithospermum erythrorhizon…

1　A generic term for a roof line that has a broken plane, the parts of which run in the same direction. A…

Ch: sijunzi. Lit. "four gentlemen." A Chinese flower-painting theme that features depictions of plum ume 梅…

A stain on paper or silk. Generally caused by moisture or mold. The result is a discolored or brownish spot on the surface…

Also *miei 御影, *eizō 影像…

Grades of formality in the method of preparing tea temae 点前. The terms originate in the three styles of…

A wooden core, used inside a clay or lacquer statue, or when casting a metal statue. It served as a support or as an aid to…

Lit. "eight patriarchs of the Shingon sect." The founders of Esoteric Buddism mikkyō 密教. These mythical and…

Also tsuizen-e 追善絵. Buddhist memorial pictures. In the 19th century, obituary pictures were printed and sold to…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a vengeful ghost, similar to *…

Lit. "true view pictures." A type of landscape painting based on naturalistic depiction of a particular place. The term…

Lit. "body light." The light believed to be emitted from the body of Buddha. Expressed on Buddha and bodhisattva figures in…

Abbreviation of Shinnō hajinraku 秦王破陣楽 (Victorious Dance of King Shin), also known as Shinkō hajinraku 神功破陣楽. A *…

Ch: Shennong. The second of the legendary Three Emperors (Ch: sanhuang, Jp: sankō 三皇) credited…

Shino 志野 ware. One of the best known of the Mino wares *minoyaki 美濃焼, first…

Offerings made at shrines to Shinto gods *kami 神. The most sacred…

Also read Shiragi Myōjin and Shinra Zenjin 新羅善神. The deity that protects Miidera 三井寺 (Onjōji 園城寺) at the…

An abbreviation of Shinran Shōnin 親鸞聖人 (1173-1262), the founder of the New Pure Land sect, Jōdo shinshū…

1　Also shusha 朱砂, tansha 丹砂, tanshu 丹朱. Cinnabar, mercuric sulphide HgS. A…

Lit. "body of the *kami 神." A sacred object which is worshiped as a…

Shinto art. The art used in the worship of Shinto deities *kami 神. The term does…

A bugaku dance and mask depicting a clown face. Classification (for terms see *…

An image, either in sculpture or painting, of a deity *kami 神 in its Shinto or…

1　Another name for *sekiō 石黄, a yellow pigment made from…