Aiban                              Print size, approximately 32 x 22 cm

Akae                               Porcelain with overglaze polychrome enamel with red

Akikusa                          Herbs and flowers from fall

Amida Buddha              The Buddha who presides over the Pure Land

Aoi – No – Mon             Family’s crest of Tokugawa clan (Tokugawa Period 1603 – 1868)

Asakusa                         Section of Tokyo known for its amusements and entertainment; formerly included the notorious Yoshiwara and the home of Hokusai

Ashi                               Reed

Baren                             Disk made bamboo and bamboo leaf used for applying pressure on the reverse of prints when printing with woodblocks

Basho                            One of Japan's most important haiku poets

Benkei                           Large and powerful mountain priest who became the faithful retainer of the medieval hero Yoshitsune

Benten                          Goddess of music, the only woman among the seven happy gods

Bento                            Lunchbox

Bijin                               Beautiful woman

Bijin-e, Bijin-ga             Pictures of beautiful women

Bijutsu                           Art, fine arts, or visual art

Bokashi                         Printing technique used to create a gradation of color intensity 

Bizen                             Unglazed stoneware produced near Okayama

Bugaku                          Ancient form of music and dance performed with masks

Bunraku                        Puppet theater

Byobu                            Folding screen

Cha no yu                      Tea ceremony or way of tea. Also associated with connoisseurship of poetry and the fine and applied arts

Chagama                       Iron kettle for tea

Cha-ire                          Pottery or porcelain tea jar or tea caddy

Chuban                         Print size, approximately 25 x 17 cm

Daikoku                         One of the seven happy gods, representing the wealth of the land. 

Daimyo                          Lords in feudal Japan

Ebisu                             One of the Seven Happy Gods, usually portrayed with a sea bream

Edo                                The name of the period from 1603 to 1867 when Japan was ruled by the Tokugawa family; also known as the Tokugawa Period

Ehon                              "Picture book'; book illustrated with woodblock prints

Emma-o                         King of hell

Fudo Myo-o                   Buddhist deity and chief of the Five Great Kings of Light

Fukei                             Scenery

Fukusei                          Reproduction

Fukusei Hanga              Woodblock print reproduction of a painting or an original print

Fukurokuju                    God of wisdom and one of the Seven Happy Gods.

Futaoki                          Lid rest of tea ceremony utensil

Ga                                  A suffix meaning "picture by"--often used as the last character to a signature

Gagaku                          Ceremonial music and dance usually reserved for the aristocracy

Gama Sennin                Taoist forest or mountain dweller who remains youthful to an inordinate age and who is associated with toads

Gashu                            Collection of pictures 

Geisha                           Female entertainers who are highly trained in classical Japanese music and dancing as well as literature and conversational arts

Gendai                           Present day or contemporary

Tale of Genji                  Celebrated eleventh-century novel by Murasaki Shikibu

Go                                  Artist's pen-name

Gofun                             An opaque white pigment often splashed on a print to imitate effects such as snow in a three-dimensional manner

Hagi                               Bush clover, one of the seven Grasses of Autumn

Hagoita                          A battledore for New year’s game

Hake-e                           Painted by brush

Haiku                             A formalized seventeen-syllable poem. It is terse, subtle, associated with a season, and swift in its imagery

Hakuji                            White porcelain

Hana                              Flower(s)

Hanga                            A woodcut, a woodblock print

Hanko                            A stamped or impressed seal 

Hanmoto                       A publisher of woodblock prints

Hanshita-e                    The finished drawing of a print that is pasted on the block of wood that will be carved into the key block

Haori                             A jacket worn over a kimono

Harimaze                      Techniques of affixing objects like fans to screens

Hasira-e                        "Pillar print'

Heisei                           Period of time in Japan from 1989 to present

Hibatchi                         A Japanese heating appliance using charcoal as fuel

Hinoki                            Cypress

Hiragana                       Cursive Japanese script

Hotei                             One of the seven lucky gods--god of contentment

Ikebana                         The Japanese art of flower arrangement

Ino                                 A wild boar

Jizuri                             Self-printed

Jurojin                           One of the seven happy gods--god of wisdom

Kabuki                           A classical Japanese dance drama whose performers are known for elaborate make-up 

Kacho                            Flowers and Birds

Kacho-e                         Pictures of flowers and birds

Kagura                           Sacred ceremonial dances usually performed at Shinto shrines

Kakemono                     Hanging scroll 

Kakihan                         Written or carved seal of monogram as distinguished from a stamped or impressed seal

Kanji                              Chinese characters adopted by the Japanese in their written language. 

Kannon                          A Buddha who is revered as the goddess of mercy in Japan and connected with the Lotus Sutra

Kano school                  School of screen painting that began in the Muromachi period through the Edo period

Kansai                            An area in Japan which includes Kobe, Osaka, Nara and Kyoto

Kanto                             An area in Japan which includes Tokyo and Yokohama

Karamatsu                     Chinese pine

Katami Gawari              A momoyama design motif resembling a lightning bolt

Kensui                           Tea ceremony utensil

Keyaki                            Zeilova wood

Key Block                      The black outline of a design and is typically the first block that's printed on a print

Kiku gata                       The shape or of chrysanthemum

Kikyo                             Bluebell or balloon flower, one of the seven types of grasses of Autumn

Kimono                          Traditional Japanese clothes

Kimpun                          Gold power

Kiseru                            Smoking Pipe

Koban                            Print size being used for one-half of an aiban (22 x 16 cm) or chuban (17 x 12 cm) or one-fourth of an oban (18 x 13 cm)

Kogo                              Incense container

Koma                             A top

Kozo                               Traditional Japanese paper made of mulberry fiber used in woodblock prints

Kougai                           Ornamental hairpins with Makie work

Kuchi-e                          Woodblock-printed illustrations for novels and literary magazines

Kuro                               Black

Kushi                             Comb, usually decorated by Makie

Kusunoki Masashige    Medieval warrior

Kyogen                          Comic interludes between Noh dramas

Maiko                            An apprentice geisha

Manga                           Comic pictures or caricatures, sketchbooks

Meiji                              Period in Japan from 1868A.D to 1912A.D.

Mingei                           Folk art

Mizusashi                      Water jug, a pitcher, a carafe which is part of the tea ceremony 

Mokume                        Design technique simulating the natural grain of wood

Mon                               Identifying crest, emblem, or family insignia often found on the clothes of actors or historical figures

Moku Hanga                 Woodblock print

Nanga                            Chinese style painting

Natsume                        Lacquer tea caddy

Nagamotchi                   A large oblong chest (for clothing, personal effects, etc)

Netsuke                         Toggle attached to inro, tonkotsu, tabacoo pouch, etc. by a cord and hung at the waist

Noh                                (Play) Formalized dance – drama in which the main character (shite) wears a mask

Noren                            Short divided curtain hung at the entrance of a shop and bearing its name or crest

Oban                             Print size approximately 37 x 26 cm

Obi                                The sash for securing the kimono about the body

Ohgi – Gata                  The shape of Ohg (a folding fan)

Okubi-e                         'Picture of a large head'--A close-up portrait

Oni                                 Demon, devil, fiend

Onnagata                      "Female Form"--Male actors in Kabuki theater who played female roles

Onsen                            Japanese hot springs

Otanzaku                       Print size--approximately 37 x 17 cm. Derived from the shape of the poem slip or tanzaku.

Reishi                             A type of mushroom for longevity

Rimpa                            (Style) of painting begun during the Momoyama period that used precious materials like gold and silver on screens, fans, etc

Sagi                               White Egret or Heron

Sashi-e                          An illustration

Saigyo                           A traveling priest often represented with staff and pilgrim hat and viewing mount Fuji

Saku                              Suffix meaning "work of", often used as the last character of a signature

Sakazuki                       Sake cup

Samisen                        Three-stringed instrument with a small square body, rounded sides, and a long neck

Sansui -Zu                     Landscape, scenery

Satsuma                        Type of pottery and porcelain produced in Kyushu

Saya                              Sheath

Sennin Taoist                Forest and mountain hermits who live inordinately long lives

Seto Turihana Ire          Hanging flower vase in the style of Seto Kiln

Setsubun Bean             Throwing celebration (after lunar new year) to expel demons and welcome good fortune

Sha                                Suffix meaning 'depiction' or 'depicted by'. Sometimes used as the last character of a signature.

Shakuhachi                   Wind instrument made of bamboo

Shichi fuku Jin              Seven happy gods,  Daikokutenn, Yebisu, Bishamonten, Benzaiten, Fukurokuju, Zyurojin, Hotei

Shikishi                         Square piece of fancy paper for writing a poem on

Shikishiban                   Print size--square format approximately 23 x 23 cm

Shikishi bako                Fitted box containing poetry writing

Shikishi Kake                A hanger for Shikishi

Shikunshi                      The four gentlemanly plants – plum blossom, bamboo, chrysanthemum, and orchid

Shin Hanga                   "New prints'-- 20th century prints utilizing traditional paradigm--collaboration between publisher, artist, woodblock carvers and printers

Shiro                              White

Shinto                            The indigenous religion of Japan whose focus of worship is nature and ancestors 

Shishi                            A kind of lion often appearing in pairs as guardians of Shinto shrines

Sho Chiku Bai               Pine, bamboo and plum blossoms in combination--a symbol for auspicious occasions in Japan

Shokudai                      Candle stand

Showa                           Period of time in Japan from 1926/12-25 to 1989/1/7

Sosaku Hanga              "Creative Prints" Prints that are entirely self-directed--artist conceives of the design, carves the blocks and prints the final work

Sumi                              Black ink (India ink) used in calligraphy and painting.

Sumi-e                           Black-ink painting

Suri                                Rubbed, chafed, filed, pounded

Susuki                           Pampas grass

Suzuri (bako)                Inkstone box. A fitted box containing writing implements such as an inkstand, water dropper and brushes

Taisho                            Period of time in Japan from 1912/7/30 to 1926/12/25

Takarabune                   A treasure ship

Take-e                            Bamboo motif

Tamagushi                    Ornamental hair pins with gem stones

Tansu                            Chest of drawers with decorative hardware

Tanuki                           A badger

Tate-e                            Vertically aligned print

Tatejima                        A vertical stripe

Tayu                               The highest ranked courtesan

Teshoku                         Handheld candle stand

Tokaido                         Major road used in the Edo period between Kyoto and Edo (modern-day Tokyo)

Tokkuri                          A sake bottle

Tokonoma                     Decorative alcove of a Japanese room, where a seasonal scroll and flower arrangement are traditionally placed

Tomobako                     Original wooden box in which an object is stored after completion by the artist

Torii                                A high gate, often red with two curved crossbars, at the entrance to a sacred Shinto area

Tsutsubana ire              Cylinder  shaped flower vase

Turu kubi                       The shape of crane neck used for flower vases

Ueno                              A section of Tokyo which includes Shinobazu Pond, Ueno Park, and several museums

Ukiyo-e                          Pictures of the floating world"--prints and paintings showing the fleeting pleasures of urban Edo between 1600-1868

Uzumaki                        Spiral

Washi                            Handmade paper

Yoga                              Western-style painting

Yakan                            Tea pot

Yoko-e                           A horizontally aligned print

Yoshiwara                     A brothel district in Tokyo.

Yujo                               A courtesan

Yukata                           Light summer kimono made of cotton, usually in a blue and white pattern. This type of kimono is typically worn at hot springs or onsen

Yunomi                          Teacup for daily use

Zabuton                         A floor cushion

Zen                                Form of Buddhism traditionally said to have been brought to Japan from China by Bodhidharma (Daruma)