Pictures depicting activities associated with the months of the year, representing one of the most important categories of…

A paring chisel that shaves a timber entirely by hand pressure. Chisels called *tatakinomi…

A simple, basic butt joint. To butt two or more cut timbers end to end. The joint is called dōzuki 胴付 when a cut…

Lit. "Commentary on Landscape Gardens."

1　A mid-Edo book written by garden designer Kitamura Enkin…

The older term is *kasan 仮山. Lit. "constructed mountain."…

A term used by the makers of *tatami 畳 mats to refer to the binding on the long sides of …

Lit. "stooping basin." A low wash basin used in a tea garden. One has to stoop down to use the basin, hence the name. Before…

Also written つくり絵. A painting process associated with the *yamato-e …

Lit. "constructed spring." The artificial watercourse built to conduct spring water into a garden. The term, found in the…

The point where two downward sloping roofs meet to form a valley, under which gutters must be set to carry off rain water.…

An incised or molded decoration *kurigata 繰形 applied to an…

Trim, molding, casings, cornices, etc. Trim at the edge of cupboards, doors, windows or on the sides of drawers. Also…

Also shortened to tsumakudari 妻降; also called hafu kudarimune 破風降棟 or shortened to hafukudari…

1　The gable pediment or the gable side of a building with a gable roof *…

A transverse beam that is visible in a gable pediment *tsuma 妻. It is one example of a gable…

Also called kowakido 小脇戸. Because they were hinged, they are also called hirakido 開戸. A side entrance. A…

The entrance of a shrine or temple building in one of the gable ends *tsuma 妻, constructed in…

The embellishment of gable pediments *tsuma 妻 by exposed structural members that were part of…

The dormitory for ordinary attendant monks at Hōryūji 法隆寺 in Nara. The present Tsumamuro was constructed in the Heian period…

Also read tsumejiro 詰城, or written 爪城 or tsume-no-shiro 攻の城.

1　The castle…

Intermediate bracket complexes. An arrangement of bracket complexes *tokyō…

1　A short curved rainbow beam *kōryō 虹梁 that connects a bracket…

Same as tsunagijiro or tsunagishiro 繋城.

1　A type of branch castle *…

Lit. "connecting beam."

1　Also *geyabari 下屋梁. A short…

A penetrating tie beam used to stabilize the lower part of exposed posts *subashira…

Also read tsukkomihozo. Also *sashikomihozo 差込ほぞ. Tsungomi…

Also tsunogarado 角柄戸. Lit. "rectangular door." A type of wicket *kido…

A perfectly smooth, absolutely flat, unblemished surface. The term is applied to timber or stone structural members.

The exterior face of a stone rampart or a stone fence. In cases where both the front and back surfaces of a stone or wall…

Shortened form of tsure mitsudogumi 連三斗組. A variation of mitsudogumi 三斗組 (*…

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

The gap between an opened door or gate stile and the pillar to which it is attached.

A decoy wall, or pseudo-wall. A wall that was built so as to hang over an earthen embankment or stone wall of a castle. When…

A small upper floor or mezzanine loft space *chūnikai 中二階, usually only about…

A general term for hanging shelves or shelves suspended from the ceiling by a stick or a piece of bamboo, especially used in…

Also written 吊床, or called kabedoko 壁床. A type of alcove *tokonoma 床の間 which has…

Also *kaitomoshi 掻灯. A lantern hung from the corner of the eaves of a…

Also written 吊木; called tenjō tsurigi 天井釣木. Long narrow strips of wood, like straps, that provide support for a…

Also written 吊壁. A narrow wall suspended from a ceiling to form the front and side of a boundary for an alcove set in the…

Also written 吊金物. Metal fittings that are used to suspend various types of structural members, which include: hanging struts…

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

Also called tsurimoto 吊元, jikumoto kamachi 軸元框. The stile, tatekamachi 縦框, of a door or gate…

Also jikumoto karado 軸元唐戸; moroori ryōbiraki 両折両開. Two doors *…

Lit. "crane island." A garden island made with several stones and, usually, a pine to suggest the flight of a crane. As a…

Also read zushi nikai. A loft in the roof space of a single-story vernacular house *…

Lit. "narrow road of ivy." Pictorial subject matter taken from Episode 9, *Azuma…

A barrel shape or cylindrical shape. Example: *marugawara 丸瓦…

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

Also called *fusumagawara 伏間瓦. Lit. "dike tile." A slightly…

A shiny black colorant made by mixing thick carbon ink *sumi 墨 with rice paste…

Also written 続画. A set of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints with a continuous composition in…

Tower connected with a gate or another tower. Examples connected to gates include Hikone-jō Taikomon 彦根城太鼓門 in Shiga…

Lit. "inner horse exit." A defensive installation *umadashi 馬出 constructed to fortify the…

1　The inner moat of a castle that has two or more moats.

2　The moat dug on the…

A strike-through chisel. Normally, when constructing a pass-through mortise, the timber is carved away from both sides with…

A subordinate entry in houses possessing a formal guest entry *genkan 玄関, and…

Also written 内隈. Lit. "interior shading." A technique *kumadori 隈取 in non-…

Also written 内曇. Also called kumogami 雲紙. Abbreviation of uchigumorigami 打曇紙. A type of decorated paper,…

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

Also read naikaku. Also called naijō 内城. An inner compound. Generally, it refers to the central…

Also pronounced uttegaeshi 打って返し, utasegaeshi 打たせ返し. Perfect symmetry on both sides of a center line…

An unbelted woman's outer garment worn over the *kosode 小袖 on formal occasions…

Lit. "pounded and inserted stone joinery." The most common stone work technique used to build a dry construction castle wall…

Pillars *hashira 柱 with an inward incline. Uchikorobi…

Rafters *taruki 垂木 that extend from the flying rafter support *…

Lit. "inner square box." A type of walled compound *masugata 桝形…

1　The inside measurement between the inner sides of two posts or pillars *…

A penetrating tie beam *nuki 貫 placed directly on top of a door or…

Also called uchinorimono 内法物. The wooden materials used for the framework of a sliding screen *…

Inner tea garden. The part of the double tea garden nijū roji 二重露地, between the middle gate *…

A type of loophole *sama 狭間. An opening in a wall for soldiers to…

Lit. "fan painting." A painting either directly on a fan *uchiwa 団扇, or on a round format…

Also read dansen. A round or oval fan made of paper or silk pasted over a framework of thin strips of bamboo.…

1　A wide post at the interface between the earth-floored space *doma…

Also written 卯建, 宇立, うだつ; all read udachi, odatsu, or odachi.

1　A term…

1　A rudimentary thatched dwelling hut or ancillary structure with a gable roof *…

1　A relatively short horizontal timber that functions like a brace. It is attached to and extends outward…

Also called *kidomon 木戸門. A simple gate with two main posts…

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

An open site, generally in Okinawa, devoid of any kind of structure, from where the gods are worshipped. Most sites are…

Lit. "nightingale floor." Floor boards which rub together when walked on to produce a pleasant and delicate sound. This type…

Lit. "bush warbler fence." A common type of rustic sleeve fence *sodegaki…

An abbreviation of Kongō sekishō zenshin uhō dōji 金剛赤精善神雨宝童子. A manifestation of the Buddha *…

A modern city in the southern part of Kyoto where the Byōdōin 平等院 (1052) is located. Historically, Uji was a resort for the…

A visual motif in the *yamato-e やまと絵 tradition, depicting the…

Lit. "Battles of the Uji 宇治 River." Two dramatic and decisive battles that took place near the Uji bridge, over the river,…

A small-sized preliminary sketch undertaken by an artist expressly at the request of a patron. These sketches may be…

Also written 有気絵. Woodblock prints or paintings *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 produced for an individual…

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

Also *chūdai 中台. Middle base.

A generic term for all supporting or receiving structural members. For example, a timber that receives an eave cornice is…

The indentation in the middle of the base *kiso 基礎 of a lantern…

Lit. "floating picture." Usually a woodblock print, in which the three-dimensionality of a scene is emphasized by using one…

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

A pictorial subject taken from "Ukifune" ("A Boat upon the Waters"), Chapter 51 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The…

Lit. "pictures of the floating world." Paintings and woodblock prints of genre themes developed from the mid-Edo to early…

Currents of Thought on Ukiyo-e, a series of biographies of *ukiyo-e …

Lit. "books of the floating world." Printed books containing illustrated prose stories which developed from the Kamigata…

Marigold, saffron yellow. A bright yellow dye taken from the root stalk of the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa).…

A main castle gate *koguchi 虎口 with a small barrier or compound…