Kutani ware. The term was used from around 1803, but only the original, ko-kutani 古九谷 (old Kutani) was…

Ch: Qu Yuan (343?-278 BC). A Chinese scholar-official. The archetypal "sorrowful-poet" and noble exile. Because Qu composed…

Also called *hashira-ishi 柱石. Lit. shoe or boot stone. The foundations…

A decorative metal fitting *kanagu 金具, wound around the bottom…

Also called anamon 穴門. Lit. cave gate. An arched side gate *kugurimon…

Lit. shoe-removing stone. A flat-topped stone used for taking off one's shoes before entering a *…

Also kutsuzuriwaku 沓摺枠. A threshold or doorsill upon which a hinged door closes snugly because the sill is a little…

An abbreviation of Kūya Shōnin 空也上人 or Saint Kūya (903-72), the monk responsible for the spread of Pure…

A memorial pagoda, for which there is no particular shape or size. Kuyōtō is an offering of worldly goods such…

Also senkuza 氈く座, kyūza 毬座, or mōsenza 毛氈座. A dais *daiza…

A crumbling wall. A type of stone fence *ishigaki 石垣 in which stones are…

The guest's mat in a tea ceremony room *chashitsu 茶室. It is usually close to…

Lit. guest stone. A type of stepping stone *yaku-ishi 役石 placed…

Lit. guest hall. A building constructed in one of three residential styles: *shoin-…

1　A seat used by a guest.

2　In traditional vernacular houses *…

1　Lit. paintings of sutra. A painting depicting the content of Buddhist sutra, however, is usually called…

Lit. sutra scrolls. Three or five cylindrical tiles found at the top of a lion-mouth roof *…

Sutra box. Although usually rectangular these come in many shapes, having a lid and sometimes a foot. Typically the material…

Natural scenery of a particular place; environment. Whenever possible, temples of the Zen 禅 sect during the medieval period…

The Chinese term for the dry lacquer technique, pronounced jiazhu in Chinese. In ancient Japanese documents dry lacquer was…

The Kyoto branch of the Kano school *Kano-ha 狩野派, founded by Kano…

Ch: Xiangyan Jizhu. Also read Kōgan gekichiku. A painting subject of the Tang dynasty Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) priest…

Also called *eiri kyōgenbon 絵入狂言本. An Edo period woodblock printed book…

Masks used for kyōgen 狂言 plays. Kyōgen is a comic theatre form, which together with the more serious *…

Proof prints made from the key block (the block that prints the dark outlines of a woodblock print *…

Originally, professionals who hand-copied sutras in the Nara period. Later the appellation referred to artisans who mounted…

Also written 挟侍. Also wakishi 脇士, wakidachi 脇立. Also pronounced attendant figures. In groups of Buddhist…

The mark 卍 manji on the chest of the Buddha. Kyōji is listed as one of the 32 attributes of Buddha *…

Also read ijō and ijiro. A castle or fortification in which the castle lord resides on a daily basis…

1　A manor or palace, yakata 館, where a lord resides.

2　In the case…

Also written 曲禄. Also less commonly called kyoku 曲 or kyokugi 曲木. Lit. curved wood. A chair made of…

1　The standard measurement used for bay size in the Kansai 関西 region, along the Inland Sea, along the San'…

Lit. apricot-kernel shape. This term refers to the eyes of Buddhist statues, which are wide open in the shape of an apricot…

The method used to attach a purlin *jōyageta 上屋桁 and transverse beams *…

Also called sen kyoshimon 線鋸歯文. Saw-tooth pattern. Kyoshimon includes the zigzag pattern *…

Lit. whole body halo. A halo, *kōhai 光背 surrounding the head and body of a…

Armrest. The word was used in the Nara period, but amended to kyōsoku 脇息 in the mid-Heian period. Shapes are…

Also read munakazari, or kyōtetsu 胸綴. An ornament found on the breast of *…

Also kyō busshi 京仏師. Buddhist sculptors *busshi 仏師 associated with…

Kyoto ware. General name of the ceramic wares of Kyoto (except *rakuyaki…

Ch: Xu You Chao Fu. A painting subject representing two legendary Chinese scholar-hermits famous for their extreme…

Also called kyōko 経庫, kyōdō 経堂, zōden 蔵殿. A repository and storehouse for sutras, or sacred books…

Sutra cylinder. A container for the Buddhist sutras placed in the sutra mound kyōzuka 経塚: cylinders of circular,…

Kyūdaisu is an abridged form of kyūdai daisu 及第台子. Also written 弓台子. An informal type of portable…

Also kūden 空殿.

1　Also *zushi 厨子, an old term…

Also called kamuroguchi 禿口, *kayoiguchi 通い口 or *…

A corner loophole or gunport. Loopholes made at a ninety-degree corner of a castle wall, rather than in a flat wall. The…

Ch: gongletu. Lit. Pictures of Pleasures at Court. A broad term referring to paintings of Chinese court ladies, often…

Ch: Jiulao. Lit. nine old friends. An abbreviation of Kyūrōkai-zu 九老会図 (Ch: Jiulaohuitu). Paintings zu…

A plank door filled with widely set, horizontal laths, kozan 小桟.

Also abarawari あばら割. Lit. "sparsely proportioned." The same meaning as ma-mabara 間疎 (sparse or scanty).…

1　Posts or pillars of the same or smaller diameter than the main pillars of a building.

2…

Translucent sliding screens *shōji 障子, opaque screens *…

A visor that projected from the front of a soidier's helmet *kabuto 冑. First…

A pictorial subject taken from "Maboroshi" ("The Wizard"), Chapter 41 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Painters born during the period extending from the Nanbokuchō through the Muromachi periods, when major social changes took…

Lit. "waiting stone." One of the seven trump stones *nanatsu-ishi 七つ石 in…

Also pronounced chō.

1　The raised paths that divided and defined sunken paddies in ancient…

Also machiaishitsu 待合室.

1　A waiting and resting shelter. Typically a rustic structure…

A general term for the Kano school *Kano-ha 狩野派, or for Kano-…

Also pronounced chōnami.

1　Streetscape in an urban area. The linear space defined by the…

1　Also written 町屋. One of the two main categories of vernacular house *minka…

Window. Many other characters for window used have been used since the 6th century. For example: 窗 and 牒, 向 and 間戸 or 間門.…

A window sill. The horizontal part at the bottom of a window frame in a wooden building. The sill is supported by the base…

The window frame into which a window sash is installed. The timber that surrounds a window.

Lit. "window decoration." A thin decoration that is hung around the outer border of a window, over the curtain, to provide…

The non-penetrating tie beams used for the frame of a window opening. One, called madoshita nageshi 窓下長押, is placed…

A floor plan. The arrangement of rooms in a dwelling, including access points, windows, hallways, verandas, toilets, and…

Posts placed on each side of a window. In the case of thatched tea ceremony houses *…

A window frame into which a window sash or casing is set. The frame consists of two vertical side pieces, tatewaku…

1　Also called kazari-ishi 飾石, tōage-ishi 灯あげ石, tōtomoshi-ishi 灯ともし石. A flat…

The front gable of a gable roof that flows directly away from the ridge and extends further than the rear gable. The long…

A large ripsaw with a blade about 60 cm long and 40 cm wide. It was first introduced in the 15th century and was used until…

Standard purpose carpenters' ripsaw. A ripsaw with a blade approximately 35-40 cm long and 12 cm wide. The blade narrows…

Also omaedachi 御前立. Lit. "standing in front." A Buddhist sculpture, positioned on the altar in front of the shrine…

Abbreviation of maedatemono 前立物. Also tatemono 立物. An upstanding decoration found on the front of a…

A transverse timber positioned at the base of the latticework *kitsune gōshi…

Also bafumi, hirami 褶. The flat top of an earthen embankment *doi…

Also written 摩崖仏. Ch: moyafo. Also known as magai sekibutsu 磨崖石仏 or 摩崖石仏. A Buddhist image carved into the…

Latticework or a grille *kōshi 格子 positioned between the hard-packed earthen…

Lit. "a true carpenter's square." A right angle or a 90 degree angle. A structural element that corresponds to a right angle…

Also pronounced magamibashira. Also called *yugamibashira 歪柱.…

Also written 曲屋. A farmhouse, nōka 農家, with a room that housed stables *umaya…

A general term for farmhouses with an L-shaped plan *magariya 曲り屋

1　Also written 勾玉. A bead with religious significance, introduced to Japan from the Korean peninsula. It is…

Round chip box. Also called wagemono 綰物 (bent round object) or himono 檜物 (cypress object). A…

Lit. "section breaks." A technique used to build a castle wall. Separate sections of the castle wall *…

Also 孫庇; matabisashi 又庇, 又廂. Lit. "grandchild aisle." A narrow additional aisle. Traditional buildings, especially…

A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a young woman. The gracefully curved mouth…

A small section within a translucent sliding screen *shōji 障子 that can be opened…

Also called kozuka 小束. A very short strut or post used in a roof truss. Magozuka are the shortest struts…

1　The length of the front facade of a building or frontage of a plot of land from corner to corner. …

Lit. "deep black stones." A generic name for black stones found in the Nachi 那智 area of Wakayama prefecture and the Kamo 鴨…

Lintel, header or head jamb. Also magosa まごさ. A lintel without grooves or tracks, placed horizontally at the top of…

Also read maiden. Also kaguradono, kaguraden 神楽殿 or kagura 神楽. Lit. "dance hall."…

Dancing old man. A noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing an old god or…

A wooden sliding door constructed of a single wooden panel *wata-ita…

Thin, parallel strips of wood about 2-3 cm wide and 1.8 cm thick affixed to the front and back of a door *…

A partition. The partitioning or dividing of an interior or an individual room into separate spaces, allowing for tremendous…

Lit. "sprinkled picture." A technique which originated in the Heian period for lacquer ware decoration in which designs are…