Lit. "mandala in the form used for worship." Devotional paintings (usually on large hanging scrolls) showing the deities of…

A variety of *besson mandara 別尊曼荼羅 that evolved from the cult centered…

An object of veneration or worship, usually a statue or painting.

A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 and the abstractly painted paper of cloth mask *…

A set of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints published in a series with a common title *…

Paintings (or sometimes printed illustrations) e 絵, that usually illustrate narrative tales, waka 和歌…

Ch: Zhuangzi (369?-286? BCE). A famous Taoist philosopher, born in Meng 孟, Henan 河南 province. His real name was Zhou and his…

Important Buddhist teachers, high priests, and founders of Buddhist sects; often worshipped by followers. Statues and…

Also written 外隈. Lit. "exterior shading."

1　A shading *…

Lit. "princess whose beauty shines through her clothing." The popular name for the concubine of Emperor Ingyō 允恭 (412-…

Also sozō 塑像, shōzō 摂像, deizō 泥像. Formerly also called *…

A pictorial subject matter based on "Suetsumuhana" ("Safflower"), Chapter 6 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale…

Paintings directly executed on sliding doors made of cryptomeria wood *sugido 杉戸 which…

Also suhama 州浜. A shape made up of three rings. Used in garden design and landscape paintings. An imitation of a…

A dais *daiza 台座 for a Buddhist image that is shaped like a sand…

Also wake わけ. An aesthetic ideal of the Edo period merchant class in the Kamigata 上方 (Osaka-Kyoto) region implying…

Ch: shuimohua. Also, in Japan, bokuga 墨画 or more colloquially sumi-e 墨絵. Lit. "water-ink painting…

Also read sugiharagami and abbreviated to suihara or sui. Handmade Japanese paper *…

Also suihatsu. Lit. "hanging hair." Long hair gathered into two sections which hang down behind the ears. The…

Lit. "trace manifestation." The equivalent for *kami 神 (god), in the pairing of…

The Suiko period. A now rarely-used name for the Asuka period *Asuka jidai…

Lit. "drunken Persians," referring to Suikoō 酔胡王 (the Drunken Persian King) and his followers, suikojū…

Lit. "water-dropper." A small container used to hold the water which is added to the inkstone *suzuri…

Also kugibori 釘彫. A technique used to copy the lines of an underdrawing. A sharp-edged tool is used to press the…

Openwork. A method of decoration in which a design is cut out of a plain surface. While sukashibori refers to…

The hero of the *kabuki 歌舞伎 play of the same name and the subject of woodblock…

Lit. "aesthetic liking." Most simply love for elegant things, particularly poetry waka 和歌 and the objects of the…

Also called aisuki 相透. A carving tool used in woodblock printmaking *ukiyo-e…

A same size copy of an original painting made by placing a thin piece of paper or silk over the original and tracing the…

A pictorial subject based on "Suma," Chapter 12 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji), which tells…

Ink. Ink was made from lampblack, soot susu 煤 produced by the incomplete combustion of aged pine wood (the product…

A river that flows through the eastern part of Tokyo, down to Tokyo Bay. It became a famous place, meisho 名所 due to…

1　A general technical term for painting in black ink *sumi 墨, meaning without…

Also written 墨隈. A shading *kumadori 隈取 technique using black…

A paper decoration design *ryōshi sōshoku 料紙装飾 similar to a marble…

A school of painting that specialized in the *yamato-e やまと絵…

Prints of sumō 相撲 wrestlers entering the ring, locked in combat or strolling along busy streets. Together with…

A method of metal casting using sand. Sand was contained in a frame, and a raw clay model of the desired object was pressed…

A type of foil *kirihaku 切箔, usually gold or silver, cut so finely that…

Lit. "gold dust printing." A technique used for woodblock printmaking *ukiyo-e…

Also suneate 臑当. A piece of leather or metal armor used to protect the shin. Used since the Kofun period, and…

A purplish-red dye senryō 染料 color name, and the plant from which it is made. The su plant sappanwood…

Also read shūbutsu. A Buddhist image printed in ink on paper or cloth, and often placed inside a Buddhist statue (…

Rubbed metal foil. A decorative technique for textiles in which metal foil is impressed on a design first drawn in paste.…

Lit. "printed matter." High quality, privately sponsored woodblock prints mainly produced 1790's-1830's. Originally, the…

Lit. "omitting a printing." An *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 woodblock printmaking…

A pictorial subject taken from "Suzumushi" ("The Bell Cricket"), Chapter 38 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale…

Also written 研. Inkstone. A base made of stone or other material used for grinding *sumi…

A box designed to hold an inkstone *suzuri 硯 and other writing tools, such as an…

Lit. "standing tree Buddha." A Buddhist image carved on a living tree or on wood that retains the form of the original tree…

Graver. A sharp, pointed steel tool used in metalwork and stone carving. Used for engraving, carving, and chiselling,…

Lit. "whose sleeves?" Painting theme depicting beautiful kimono 着物 draped across a wooden rack, ikō …

Old Persian man taikofu 太孤父 and young Persian boy taikoji 太孤児, two types of gigaku masks *…

Ch: Taigongwang. A Chinese scholar who was thought to be a paragon of humble virtue and learned accomplishment, and who…

Mandala of Taima. The most complete depiction of the *Kangyō hensō…

A small Buddhist image that is placed inside a larger one as an offering. In most cases, older images were placed inside…

Red ochre. A red pigment whose main component is ferric oxide (haematite), Fe203. Used in Japanese style painting *…

A major Hindu god called Indra or Sakra who has two major roles in Buddhist literature, one as king of the gods and lord of…

Fading. A lessening of the intensity of a color by exposure to sunlight or air. Chemically unstable dyes or pigments undergo…

"Running in retreat," a *bugaku 舞楽 dance and mask *…

A type of folding screen *byōbu 屏風 used in the Imperial Palace…

A collection of iconographical line drawings *hakubyō 白描 in handscroll form…

A collection of iconographical line drawings *hakubyō 白描 in handscroll form…

A *mandara 曼荼羅 based on the Dainichikyō 大日経 (Sk: …

A pictorial subject depicting the sport of falconry, birds trained to hunt cranes tsuru 鶴, pheasants kiji…

Also takaya bussho 高矢仏所. A guild of Buddhist sculptors active in Nara *…

A sailboat hokakebune 帆掛船 at full sail, loaded with rice bushels and treasures takara 宝, often bearing the…

Now a modern city on the Inland Sea (southwest of Osaka in Hyōgo Prefecture), most famous as the sea-coast setting for the…

Takatori 高取 ware. Made in Chikuzen 筑前 Province (modern Fukuoka Prefecture) of northern Kyūshū 九州, the Takatori kilns were…

A pictorial subject taken from "Takekawa" ("Bamboo River"), Chapter 44 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

A long-sheet size of *hōsho 奉書 paper. Approximately 53 x 72 cm. The largest…

Pictures on kites. It is thought that kite flying became popular in Japan in the 18th century, and the early designs for…

Also written 託磨派 and 宅間派. One of the schools of *ebusshi 絵仏師, priest-painters…

A pictorial subject taken from "Tamakazura" ("The Jeweled Chaplet"), Chapter 22 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

An image that has more heads, eyes, or limbs than the human figure.

Also *Bishamonten 毘沙門天. Sk: Vaisravana. A fierce guardian deity believed to protect…

A yellowish-red pigment *ganryō 顔料 used in Oriental painting …

A painting where the original ink lines show through after light pigment is added. The 11th-century Senzui byōbu …

Tanba 丹波 ware. Also called tachikui-yaki 立杭焼. One of the Six Old Kilns, a general name for a type of sueki…

Lit. "Buddha at birth." A sculptural representation of the historical Buddha *Shaka 釈迦…

Ch: Danxia shaofo. A painting subject which captures the Chan 禅 (Jp: Zen) parable of the monk Danxia (Jp: Tanka 丹霞…

A single topknot. Hair tied on top of the head in a simple round topknot *hōkei…

Beating gold. Also called tanzō 緞造, uchimono 打物, tsuikin 鎚金 and kaji 鍛冶. A…

A tool used in woodblock printmaking *ukiyo-e 浮世絵. A piece of wood, a flat…

Lit. "red and green books." Also called edoribon ゑどり本 or 絵取本 (colored books) during the Edo period. Early Edo…

An abbreviation of tansaiga 淡彩画 (light-colored painting).
Lit. "lightly colored." Very often ink paintings…

"Collection of Young Trees of Painting"; one-volume biography of Japanese painters by Kano Ikkei 狩野一渓 (1599-1662). Compiled…

Small vertical poem cards, approximately 36 cm long x 6 cm wide that may be decorated with colored designs, sprinkled with…

Lit. "poem-slip" *tanzaku 短冊 format. A size of *…

Any long, rectangular-shaped object which is similar in size to a long, rectangular poem card called *…

A female form of *Kannon 観音 who appears as the mother of the Kannon section (Kannon'in…

A painting technique in which pale black ink *sumi 墨 or a color (…

Also called *hishigōshi 菱格子. A design motif of crossed…

A hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物 that is vertically oriented; in…

Also read tatewaki or written 立枠. A design motif made of vertical, tate 立, curvilinear lines which bulge…

1　An abbreviation of tatōgami, or tatamigami. Also known as…

Also written 龍田川 or 立田川. The lower reaches of a tributary of the Yamato 大和 River in Nara. Long famous for its maple leaves,…

A painting shop *eya 絵屋 or atelier founded by Sōtatsu 宗達 (?-1640?), who is thought…

Lit. "hand box." Introduced from China as a comb box before the Heian period, they were popular with court women through the…

Ch: Zheng Siyuan. A Chinese sage depicted riding a tiger and accompanied by a tiger cub who carries his books. The tiger…