Also shusokushi manmōsō 手足指縵網相. A web-like membrane between the fingers and toes found on sculpted Buddhist…

A statue completely carved in the round, as opposed to relief *ukibori 浮彫. A…

Also *itchū 一鋳. A metal casting technique where the statue is cast in one…

Also written 増髪. Long, tangled hair. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面…

A type of mould used in metal casting and ceramics. Megata refers to a hollow mould into which molten metal,…

A type of halo *kōhai 光背 found on Buddhist images. A square…

Also mida jōin. Lit. "Amida's meditation mudra." Mida is an abbreviation of *…

Also *eizō 影像 or *shin-ei…

Lit. "crescent: three moons." Noh masks *nōmen 能面 representing a…

Lit. "forehead light." A curl of white hair on the forehead of a Buddha or Bodhisattva. It is said to emit a bright light…

Utensils used during ritual incantation and prayer in Esoteric Buddhism mikkyō 密教. Introduced to Japan in the…

An incantation in esoteric Buddhism to purify and sanctify *misogi 御衣木, the wood used for…

Lit. "hanging skirt base." A pedestal *daiza 台座 which is covered by the skirt of…

Also mosaku 模作, mosha 模写, mokosaku 模古作. Works of art such as statues which are copies of…

Wooden sculpture. While wooden sculptures are relatively rare in India and China, wood has traditionally been the chief…

Also mokushin kanshitsuzou 木心乾漆像, mokushin kanshitsu-zukuri 木心乾漆造. Lit. "wood-core dry lacquer." A method…

Also pronounced kyōkō. A protective breast-plate found on Buddhist guardian deities *…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a fierce, old man. The shape of…

Also written 中子. Sometimes known as *ogata 雄型. Inner mould. When a metal statue…

Lit. "Becoming bestial." A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 used for the wife taking revenge…

A general term for Buddhist sculptors *busshi 仏師 working in Nara…

Also nankin busshi or nankyō busshi 南京仏師, yamashinadera busshi 山階寺仏師, otera busshi 御寺仏師…

A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 and the mask *…

A type of wooden sculpture characterized by round chisel nata 鉈 marks that are left on the surface. Natabori…

Also juzu 数珠, 誦数. A string of beads or a rosary, used for Buddhist prayer and invocation. Particularly associated…

Also gyōdō 行道, gōshō-e 迎接会, raigō-e 来迎会. A Buddhist ceremony brought to Japan from the…

A modelling material resembling *kokuso-urushi 木屎漆 but harder in…

A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 performed right after *…

A statue or painting depicting the Buddhas *Shaka 釈迦 and Tahō 多宝…

Also nijū enkōhai 二重円光背, nijū ensō二重円相. Lit. "double round halo." A type of halo *…

Also muken chōsō 無見頂相, chōkeisō 頂髻相, *ushitsunisha…

From the late Heian period a small circle carved at the front part of the base of the *nikkei…

Noh mask *nōmen 能面 made for the role of the ghost of the broken-hearted…

Also written 上り髭, Lit. "climbing beard." The name of a mask used in kyōgen 狂言 plays. Noborihige has the…

Also 納衣, shinnōe 刺納衣 or 刺衲衣, nōgesa 衲袈裟, nō 衲.

1　A Buddhist priest's…

Masks used in the *Noh 能 theater and worn by the main actor shite シテ, and his…

Also nōsashō hōju 能作性宝珠, mani hōju 摩尼宝珠. A sacred jewel, said to remove suffering, and capable of granting…

An implement carried by Buddhist priests at a ceremony or during formal preaching. It has a slightly curved handle about 30-…

Also akujō 悪尉. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面…

Also simply beshimi べし見; formerly written 閉歯見. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面…

A decoration in the form of a lion's head *shigami 獅噛, found on…

A projecting mould used in metalwork. Moulds used for metalwork were divided into two types: ogata (convex or…

1　A mounting for paintings and calligraphy which originated in China. It consists of a scroll with rollers…

Lit. "old man." A type of mask used in kyōgen 狂言 plays to represent an old man. The term ōji usually…

Also hakushikijō 白色尉. The white faced mask of a happy old man used in *Noh…

Proto-Noh masks *nōmen 能面 used in the three-piece ritual Shikisanba 式三番…

Woman of ōmi. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a young-to-…

A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 and the mask *…

Noh masks *nōmen 能面 representing women. This category divides broadly into three…

Sometimes written 斧始め. Also te-onohajime 手斧始, katanahajime 刀始. A ceremony performed when an artist is…

Noh masks *nōmen 能面 of ghosts and spirits. Although all the …

Also tsuichōbutsu 鎚ちょう仏. A repose relief depicting Buddhist deities (and the technique involved). Usually small,…

Also otogoze 乙御前. A mask of a young woman, used in kyōgen 狂言 plays. Oto has a fat, dimpled face…

Also tobide 飛出. A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing the God of…

Also masugami otoko 十寸髪男. Noh masks *nōmen 能面 of male…

Noh masks *nōmen 能面 representing men. These realistic portrayals…

Spiral shaped curls of hair, like snail-shells, on the head of a *nyorai…

Lit. "welcoming mudra." A mudra or hand gesture *in 印 in which the forefinger,…

A net-like ornament strung with jewels or precious metals and hung from the canopy *…

Lit. "lotus petal."
1　A pendant *gatō 瓦当, found on semi-…

Also renza 蓮座. Lit. "Lotus base" (Sk: padmasana). A dais for a Buddhist image *…

The central section of a lotus flower pedestal *rengeza 蓮華座 on which a Buddhist image usually…

A manner of representing drapery folds in Buddhist sculpture. It consists of either 

1) a high…

Ch: Lishi. A gigaku mask *gigakumen 伎楽面…

Ch: Lin Hejing (967-1028). A noted poet, calligrapher and scholar of the Northern Song dynasty. Rin Nasei's real name was…

A type of halo *kōhai 光背 used on Buddhist images, forming a free-…

The royal ease position (Sk: Maharajalilasana). A seated position used for a Buddhist image with one knee (usually…

Also rōgata chūzō 蝋型鋳造, rōgata imono 蝋型鋳物. A method of metal casting known as the lost-wax…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing the aged, yet beautiful face of…

A Buddhist sculpture workshop *bussho 仏所, active from the 11th-14th century and…

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

Also Raryōō 羅陵王, Ranryōō 蘭陵王 (King Lanling), and Ryūō 龍王 (Dragon King, see *…

Also read ritsuzō. A Buddhist image which is standing, as opposed to seated (see *…

Also sabi 錆. A paste made by mixing powdered burnt clay *tonoko 砥の粉…

Lit. "Buddhist colorist." An artist who applies colored pigment to the nimbus or pedestal of a Buddhist statue. A …

A painted statue, usually a Buddhist image. Saishikizō are colored over the entire surface of the figure;…

A *bugaku 舞楽 dance and mask *bugakumen…

1　A pictorial subject taken from the auspicious *kabuki 歌舞伎 play which…

Lit. "three great Buddhas." The three largest images in the history of Buddhist statuary in Japan. Originally the …

Three horizontal grooves in the neck of a Buddha *nyorai 如来 or bodhisattva *…

Lit. "three countries Buddha." Buddhist statues made from the fourth to the seventh centuries in Korea. At that time, Korea…

A Buddhist sculpture workshop *bussho 仏所 that was located in Kyoto's Sanjō 三条…

Three-storied pagodas, most of which are made of wood, but a small percentage are made of stone. See *…

Abbreviation of Sanju hajinraku 散手破陣楽. *Bugaku 舞楽 dance and mask *…

The thirty-two physical characteristics that symbolize the superhuman qualities of the Buddha. These originated in Indian…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a plebeian old man. Deep furrows line the…

A pestle with three prongs at each end, usually made of gilt bronze. The central grip is often encircled by demons' eyes…

A sword, with a blade at one end and a handle topped by three prongs shaped like a *sankosho…

Also sanmen hōshoku 三面宝飾, sanmen hōkan 三面宝冠. A Buddhist crown that consisted of three upstanding ornaments…

Also read san'e. Three different robes used by Buddhist priests. According to Indian Buddhist tradition, each monk…

1　A black lacquer crown with a row of three rounded peaks called koji 巾子. The crown was worn by…

Also sanzonzō 三尊像, sanzon 三尊. A set of three Buddhist deities appearing together. They form a triad…

1　Monkey. The monkey is represented in kyōgen 狂言 by a masked and costumed figure. The monkey mask…

Lit. "bilateral symmetry." An image whereby the right and left sides of an image are identical. With the practice of…

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…

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…

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