Lit. "brinemaidens." Women who worked hauling brine to make salt. In Japanese art, shiokumi often indicates the…

Technique of applying gold foil to the surface of a statue or vessel. Most often found on Buddhist statues, especially *…

A rod used by a priest to discipline students practicing Zen 禅 meditation. Made of split bamboo covered with black lacquer,…

Lacquered leather. Untanned skins of cow, wild pig or deer are softened by soaking, wrapped around a mold to dry in the sun…

Enamel, cloisonne or champleve. A decorative technique where areas of enamel are separated by metal dykes or wires. Usually…

A geometric design pattern which may be described alternatively as four spindles arranged in a circle with ends touching, or…

A style of Buddhist sculpture made during the period of Korean history when the Silla dynasty (Jp: Shiragi 新羅) defeated the…

Also kijizō 素地像. A wooden statue with a natural wood surface. Shirakizō may be a Buddhist or Shinto…

Also read shira-e byōbu. A folding screen bearing motifs painted in ink or mica *…

Chinese temple lion. Refers to the role and the mask representing a temple lion shishi 獅子. The oldest variety are…

1　Lit. "lion-mouth tile." An ornamental tile placed on each end of a main ridge, instead of the more common…

Also written 獅子児, called haeharai 蝿払. Gigaku masks *gigakumen…

Ch: sishen. Ancient Chinese mythical animals associated with the four cardinal directions: green/blue dragon (Ch:…

Sk: simhasana. A base *daiza 台座 for a Buddhist image in…

Four types of mandala, the dai mandara 大曼荼羅 (great mandala), *Sanmaya mandara…

Ch: sishui. Lit. "four sleepers." A painting subject of the Tang dynasty eccentrics *…

A detailed preliminary drawing prepared before undertaking an actual painting hon-e 本絵. The first step in creating…

Small prints of actors, or genre scenes with actors produced around the mid-19th century which bear seals reading shita-…

Lit. "girl sticking out her tongue." A mask used in kyōgen 狂言 plays and representing a young woman with her tongue…

Also called *jinuri 地塗り. A base coat. An undercoat applied during the…

Four Guardian Kings. Pre-Buddhist Indian deities including *Taishakuten…

Painting where the tip of the finger or a long finger-nail is employed instead of a brush. Also called shiga 指画 (…

The technique of keeping *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print paper moist during…

Lit. "gem or precious stone base." The most common base for an image of *Fudō Myōō…

Wrinkled old man. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a dignified,…

Also shiisō. Lit. "meditative posture." A position used in Buddhist images to symbolize thinking, where the fingers of the…

Also shichōkanzō 紙張貫像. A figure made from layers of glued paper. A number of paper Buddhist statues are preserved…

Ch: Zhong Liquan. One of the Daoist Eight Immortals *hassen 八仙. Originally a…

Also read setsu, also *ten 捻. An old word for modelling or molding often…

Pictures of town fire-fighting units. These were first organized in 1719 and comprised construction workers and carpenters.…

Also written 少仏師. The term first used in the early Heian period for Buddhist sculptors working in a team, subordinate to a…

A technique used to join the blocks in the center of a wooden sculpture made by the hollow joined block technique *…

An ancient Chinese philosophy which holds that calligraphy and painting are two aspects of a single art that springs from…

Also, pronounced shōbyōga (although rarely). Paintings on large surfaces of architectural structures. The term…

Lit. "paintings on screens 'shō 障' and walls 'heki 壁.'" Partition or interior wall painting, although…

Also daichō 台帳, daihon 台本. In the Kyoto-Osaka area kamigata 上方, it is often called *…

An Edo period novel which imitated the style of *kabuki 歌舞伎 stage books *…

Lit. "paintings on screens *shōji 障子." Shōji-e is a term…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a good-luck sea sprite, fond of…

Sk: Aryavalokitesvara. Also written 正観音. This is the term for the simplest form of *…

Ch: Zhuge Liang (181-234). Also known as Kongming (Jp: Kōmei 孔明). A counsellor to the Chinese Han emperor Liu Bei (Jp: Ryū…

Small-scale, close-up painting of landscapes. The scenes generally depict misty fields and rivers or lakes and may also…

Ch: Zhongkui. A god in the Chinese Daoist pantheon known as the Demon-queller, often depicted in sculpture and painting. A…

Also read sokuji-in (Sk: bhusparsa-mudra). Also gōma-in 降魔印. Earth-touching mudra. A type of hand…

Illustrations of people of various occupations in their workshops, which became popular in the Momoyama and early Edo…

The form of a work of art made for contemplation from the front. This style is often found in Japanese Buddhist sculpture…

Also known as Seishoku Daikongō Yasha 青色大金剛薬叉. A deity who protects against diseases believed to be caused by…

Also tsuyazuri つや摺 (lustre printing), and sometimes written 上面摺. Lit. "printing from the front." A printing…

Also written 勝南院座, 小南院座, 小波座. One of the painting studios or guilds, za 座 of the *…

Lit. "list of objects acquired and brought back." Lists and other records of Buddhist objects brought back to Japan from…

Also written 将来品. Buddhist implements, statues shōraibutsu 請来仏, or writings brought back to Japan by…

Also shosaijiku 書斎軸 or saijiku 斉軸. Associated with *shigajiku …

Ch: Xiaoxiang bajing. Lit. "Eight views of the Xiao and the Xiang." The eight designated scenes of the area around…

Idealized portraits in sculpture and painting made for the worship and reverence of Shōtoku Taishi 聖徳太子 (ca. 574-…

*Mandara 曼荼羅 (mandala) of the Sutra for Praying for Rain. A variety…

A square pedestal used in portraits of seated high-ranking Buddhist priests. It is usually a simple square dais supported by…

Ch: Shangshan sihao. A pictorial subject depicting four elderly sages who fled from the turbulent society of the…

Ch: Zhu Maichen. A Chinese Han dynasty woodcutter so enamored with learning that he read as he carried bundles of firewood…

Ch: Zhou Maoshu (1017-73). A well-known Confucian scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty, depicted in a tradition of imaginary…

Vermilion. An intense orange-red pigment *ganryō 顔料 made of…

Lit. "deer's tail." A type of brush, originally made from a deer's tail attached to a handle. The shubi's practical…

A satin textile woven with colored woofs to form a pattern, originating in Ming China. As more than seven colors were used,…

Lit. "seed syllable mandala." A mandala *mandara 曼荼羅 in which the deities are…

A measure of height for a Buddhist statue based on shūjaku 周尺, a unit of measure used in Zhou dynasty China (1 …

Ten Categories of Collected Antiquities, a late Edo period illustrated catalog of old art objects edited by the…

Ch: Zhougong Dan. The virtuous Duke of Zhou 周公 (Ch: Zhougong; Jp: Shūkō), the son of King Wen 文王 (Ch: Wen Wang; Jp: Bun Ō)…

Also read Shūkongōjin. Also called Kongōshu 金剛手, Jikongō 持金剛, *…

A guild of Buddhist sculptors active in Nara (see *nanto busshi 南都仏師) in…

Lit. "abbreviated illustration." A simple miniature copy of an earlier work of art, and, as such, a valuable source of…

Mt. Sumeru. Also called Myōkōsan 妙高山 or Kinzan 金山. A great mountain that, according to ancient Indian cosmology, towers…

Also formerly osokuzu-no-e おそくずの絵, makura-e 枕絵, makura sōshi 枕草紙, or e-hon 会本; also…

1　A Shingon 真言 priest (1143-79), who was an anti-Taira 平 conspirator, and a tragic exile. The story of…

Texture or modeling strokes used by artists to depict the surfaces of trees, rocks and ground, which lend a sense of form…

Lit. "Buddha coming forth from the mountains." A scene from the life of the historical Buddha (Sk: Sakyamuni, *…

A pictorial subject taken from the popular tale, Ōeyama Shuten dōji 大江山酒顛童子 (The Drunkard Boy of Mt. Ōe),…

Also hakkutsuhin 発掘品. Lit. "objects which came out of the earth." Excavated objects. *…

Also shuboku, akazumi 赤墨. Red ink. Black carbon ink *sumi 墨, mixed with cinnabar red…

Ch: Su Li Juebie. The farewell of Su Wu (Jp: So Bu 蘇武, ca. 140-60 BCE) and Li Ling (Jp: Ri Ryō 李陵, ?-72 BCE). A…

Ch: Su Dongpo (1036-1101). Lit. "retired scholar of the eastern slope." A Northern Song Chinese literatus who was a noted…

A large carving tool which is used to shave away large areas of a woodblock *hangi…

Lit. "overall border." An outer framing fabric surrounding a painting or calligraphy. The sōberi is used in various…

Ch: caochonghua. Paintings of insects and plants, where various kinds of insects including bees, butterflies, and…

Calligraphy, painting, documents, letters and other items that accompany tea utensils, and are mounted as hanging scrolls *…

The Soga school. A group of Japanese painters active from the 15th through the 18th century. Although later Soga artists…

A pictorial subject depicting scenes from Soga monogatari 曽我物語 (The Tale of The Soga), a seminal warrior…

Also written 惣型. A method of metal casting which used a clay mould. The mould was made by carving the shape of the desired…

Chinese painting of the Song (Jp: Sō 宋) and Yuan (Jp: Gen 元) dynasties, particularly as collected in Japan. The majority of…

Special bodily characteristics of the Buddha which symbolize his superhuman nature. These include many aspects of Buddha's…

One of the most popular Shinto deities, who is shown in the form of a Buddhist monk and who protects warriors and the…

Term used in the Nara and Heian periods for a red color obtained using madder akane 茜 dye.

A system of rank or title given by the imperial court to men and women in a Buddhist order who were also eminent scholars.…

Ch: caoyi chushui; also sōibyō 曹衣描. Lit. "wet-clothing drawing." A style of figure painting in which…

A hairstyle where the hair is divided into two bunches, and tied on top of the head. The hairstyle is found on Buddhist…

A dry lacquer statue. During the Nara period, the term soku was used in documents to refer to dry lacquer statuary…

An ink painting brush stroke that uses the body of the bristles rather than tip to create a thick line. Generally, in…

An anklet. A decorative ring or rings *kansen 鐶釧 found on the ankles of…

*Bugaku 舞楽 dance and mask *bugakumen…

Blue-and-white ware. A white pottery with indigo patterns. On the surface of white pottery, mainly porcelain, designs are…

A fishnet-like design used to adorn the base of a Buddhist sculpture. The character 藻 (also read mo) means duckweed…

Also read sōna. A signature in cursive script. During the Nara period, signatures were written in formal square…