Also senbori 線彫, *sujibori 筋彫. Line engraving. A method of carving…

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

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

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

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…

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…

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

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

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

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

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

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

Also *miei 御影, *eizō 影像…

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…

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

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 *…

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

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,…

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…

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…

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

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

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…

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

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 *…

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

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

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

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

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 A type of brush, originally made from a deer's tail attached to a handle.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

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

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

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

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

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

*Bugaku 舞楽 dance and mask *bugakumen…

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

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 *…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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,…

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

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

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

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

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

Also *tamen kōhi 多面広臂. A Buddhist image with more heads, eyes, or limbs than…

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

Also tekō, yubitsugai 指番. A protective piece of leather or metal used to protect the back of a soldier's…

Also *shō 摂. Clay statue. An old term used in the Nara period to…

Lit. "mudra for turning the Dharma-wheel." A mudra or hand gesture *in 印…

Also tenchigen. A facial expression found on *Fudō Myōō 不動明王, where the right…

Lit. "heavenly youth," also warabemai 童舞 (dancing child). A dance mask representing a young boy with parted hair…

1　Also sangai 傘蓋, hōgai 宝蓋, kagai 華蓋, kengai 懸蓋. Sk: chatra…

Lit. "heaven people."

1　The heavenly gods as opposed to the gods of earth, chigi 地祇.
…

Also hōkandai 宝冠台. A decorative band around the head found on *bosatsu…

Also tenne 纏衣. A long, narrow strip of ornamental cloth, found on images of *…

A Buddhist statue made of cast iron. Cast iron statues were not as common in Japan as bronze (see *…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 of the *…

Gilding. A decorative technique used in metalwork, where an object was coated with a thin layer of gold. In Japan, this…

A pestle with a single sharp blade at each end, found as an attribute *jimotsu…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing an old, plebeian man used only…

Powdered burnt clay or pulverized whetstone. Used for polishing swords and coloring wood. Tonoko was mixed with…

A style of sculpture represented by the work of the 7th-century sculptor known as Tori busshi 止利仏師. Tori was believed to be…

Lit. "life-size." A standard unit of measurement for Buddhist statues *hōryō…

Decoration found on the head of a Buddhist sculpted figure. This includes hairstyles *…

A cylindrical seat or round pedestal *daiza 台座 for a Buddhist image. Many images…

Also written 津波井仏所. A guild of Buddhist sculptors *busshi 仏師 active in Nara *…

Also 通圓. A mask of an old man, used in the kyōgen 狂言 play Tsūen (The Tea Priest, Tsūen…

An abbreviation of tsūryō kenpō 通両肩法. A style of wearing a Buddhist robe covering both shoulders. The robe…

Dangling chin, a gimmick used on some bugaku masks *bugakumen…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing the God of Thunder. Great…

Enclosed inner mold. The *nakago 中型 was a term used in metal…

A technique used to hollow out the interior of a wooden statue. The hollow produced is also called uchiguri.…

Lit. "planting." A technique used to make wooden statues, where the hair and beard are made separately, and then attached to…

Also written 請花, 受華, 請華; sometimes pronounced ukehana. Flower-shaped support. A support in the shape of an open,…

Formerly known as hanshutsuzō 半出像. A relief, or a method used to carve a relief on a flat surface. Halfway…

See *nikkei 肉髻. A hemispherical protuberance emerging from the head of a…

Also usofuki, sometimes written 嘯吹. Lit. "bluffer or whistler"; a humorous mask used in kyōgen 狂言 plays.…