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

Also known as sumi-ito 墨糸. A carpenter's inking line. It is used for drawing a reference line (the procedure is…

The end or corner newel post of a railing *kōran 高欄. The post is topped by a…

One of several arrangements for positioning the fire-box *ro 炉 or fixed hearth in a…

Also written 墨芯. A bamboo brush or drawing spatula. The tip of a piece of bamboo is sharpened into a pallet shape and then…

Also written 隅具. Also called sumitokyō 隅斗きょう. A bracket complex *tokyō…

Also sumidana 隅棚. An ornamental, triangular shelf made to fit into the corner of a decorative alcove *…

Carpenter's ink pot or ink pad. The sumitsubo, unlike other carpentry tools, does not have a fixed shape or size.…

A castle entrance barrier *umadashi 馬出, erected at the corner of an…

A corner tower. Also written 角櫓. A timber-framed tower set on the corner of a castle wall where two stone walls jut out. In…

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

A stone gate-like entrance, torii of the myōjin type *myōjin…

A style of main sanctuary *honden 本殿 in Shinto shrine…

Also called *sumihijiki 隅肘木, tsunohijiki 角肘木, and ushihijiki…

A beam that runs parallel to a hip rafter, also called a common rafter *sumigi…

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…

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

Lit. "sand toilet." Originally a functioning toilet for use during tea gatherings, it later became a purely ornamental…

A plaster coating on a storehouse wall about 4.5 mm thick. Traditionally the mixture by volume was 10 parts of sand, 15…

Also suntori; also called issundori 一寸取, sun-osae 寸押, and sunkazoe 寸数. A method of…

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

A slatted floor or duckboard floor made of boards or bamboo laid parallel with space between; each board is called …

Bracket complexes constructed beneath a veranda to give it support.

A penetrating beam used as the backing and bracing for the various layers of plaster in the thick walls of a storehouse *…

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

Also written 摺揚障子. Also called *agesage shōji 上下障子.

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…

Written susa 寸莎. Also tsuta つた. A generic term for fibrous substances, including straw, hemp, or paper…

1　A wall with an entirely flat white surface.

2　A simple board wall.

Lit. "discarded stone." One of the seven trump stones *nanatsu-ishi…

Moats dug in open areas some distance from a castle, to hinder the advance of enemy forces.

A sacrificial compound constructed in front of a main compound. A camp used to launch an attacking force. When a force moves…

A type of molding *kurigata 繰形 incised on the lower edge of a…

Also sutedo. A bracket *tokyō 斗きょう that has the same…

The front gate at the center of the south end of the outer enclosure that surrounded the palace compound at Heijō-kyō 平城京…

Lit. "sparrow entrance, exit." A gap under the eave end tiles *nokisakigawara…

Lit. "sparrow dance." A widely-used term for a range of elements used to decorate the ridge of the roof in vernacular houses…

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…

1　One of the purlins used in a hidden roof *noyane …

A vertical timber that rises from a level or inclined surface. In modular measurement of timber *…

Lit. "standing water basin." A type of tall basin *chōzubachi 手水鉢 that can…

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

A loophole *sama 狭間 cut in a wall about chest high to a standing soldier.…

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 …

A 2-storied pagoda that developed from the circular, roofed one called *hōtō 宝塔…

Lit. "confronting castle." Also termed mukaijiro 向城 (facing castle) and *tsukejiro…

Also pronounced daibō. A large room 6.7 m wide and 12.7 m deep, constructed in a style customary from about the mid…

Also oigata 笈形, *gasshōhire 合掌鰭. A pair of decorative sculpted…

Lit. "large bottle strut." A strut that is used mainly in Zen style architecture *…

The trimming or hewing of the opposite sides of a log so that the surfaces become flat and parallel making it easier to join…

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

Also called taikobari 太鼓張, fukuroshōji 袋障子, bōzufusuma 坊主襖.
A type of paper-covered,…

Also called soribashi 反橋. An arched bridge made of stone or wood. One example is the Yoka Jinja 与賀神社 (1607) in Saga…

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

A door frame covered on both sides with boards or panels. The inside of the door, like a drum taiko 太鼓, is empty.…

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 *…

Also called ōyashiro-zukuri. The oldest style of shrine architecture. Its small scale is thought to resemble that…

Lit. "large shaku 尺." An ancient unit of length. Introduced in the Taihōryō 大宝令 codes of 701, it measured 35.6 cm,…

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…

A hall either dedicated to Shōtoku Taishi 聖徳太子 (ca. 574-622), the second son of Emperor Yōmei 用明 (r. 585-87), or a building…

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: …

Lit. "hawk's beak." A decorative, curved pattern often found on moldings. The pattern has pointed tips like a bird's beak.…

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

Also pronounced takahe. The gable walls of the central thatched portion kirizuma 切妻 of the roof *…

Also pronounced takahe-zukuri. Lit. "high wall construction." Also called *…

A hedge, 3 to 5 m high, planted as a wind screen or for fire control.

A pillar or post that is multi-sided or cut with many facets.

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…

Also take-no-fushi 竹の節. Lit. "bamboo joint transom." A type of transom shaped like a balustrade which became…

Lit. "bamboo and horsetail tokusa 木賊 fence."

1　A fence that has split and crushed bamboo…

Lit. "bamboo post." One that has been squared off.

Lit. "bamboo fence." A generic name for any kind of fence made with bamboo. Specific types include *…

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

A bamboo nail. Usually the nail is 7.5 mm square and made from giant bamboo madake 真竹 (also nigatake 苦竹).…

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

Bamboo or bamboo muntins that are used for windows in dwellings where a suggestion of rusticity is needed, or in tea…

Paper-covered bamboo frames used as full-sized sliding doors *shōji 障子, or the…

Also written 竹柵. A roughly constructed bamboo fence with horizontal pieces placed close to the top, at the center, and at…

The stokehole or stokeholes in the side of a cooking range *kamado 竃. The…

Lit. "waterfall stone arrangement." A type of stone arrangement used for garden waterfalls. Also pronounced taki-…

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

A tool called a "punner" in English, used to pound down broken stones laid below the foundation of a building. It consists…