Glossary

aragoto 荒事 - a kabuki bombastic style exaggerating all the aspects of the role (acting, wig, make-up, costumes, dialogues, oversized swords) to portray valiant warriors, fierce gods or demons. It is the opposite style of the soft wagoto.  It is sometimes referred to in English as the "rough-stuff" style.

bakufu 幕府 - military government of the shogun.

bijin-ga 美人画 - pictures of beautiful women.  This term was originally gender neutral but by the second half of the 18th century it was mainly used for women.

bokashi ぼかし - a gradual gradation of colored ink achieved during the printing of woodblock prints by varying the application of ink to the block from light to dark.

budōgoto 武道事 - roles or things related to the warrior class.

bunmei kaika-e 文明開化絵 (civilization and modernization pictures) - bunmei kaika was the Meiji government's slogan for the introduction of Western science, culture and ideology after the Meiji-Restoration of 1868.  The incorporation of many of these Western ideas and things into the Japanese lifestyle often made for amusing results and bunmei kaika-e often made fun of the results. One typical example is the combination of Western and Japanese fashion elements as Western skirts worn with Japanese shoes or Japanese kimonos worn with Western hats and accessories etc. (also see kaika-e and Yohohama-e.)

bunjinga 文人画 - Chinese literati painting.

bunraku 文楽 - a traditional Japanese puppet theater, combining jōruri chanting and puppetry. 

Bunten 文 展 - an abbreviation for Monbusho Bijutsu Tenrankai (Exhibition of Fine Arts by the Ministry of Education), the Ministry's annual art exhibition, which started in 1907 and ran until 1918.  It was the equivalent of the official exhibitions of nineteenth century Europe and the route to recognition and financial success. It showcased Japanese-style painting, western-style painting, and sculpture. (see also Teiten its 1919 successor.)

chirimen-e 縮緬絵 ("crêped" print) - introduced around 1860, finished prints (created by the usual woodblock print process) are rolled around a bar and then rubbed to give it crinkles and creases as if it had been printed on crepe silk (chirimen 縮緬). This treatment causes the print to shrink to about two thirds of its original size, as a result of which lines take on special characteristics and the colors darken.

daimyō 大名 - feudal regional lord.

dōjin 同人 - The Japanese word dōjin (also dōnin) has two meanings: 'the same person' and 'a group of people who share the same objective or aspiration'. The term dojin zasshi (magazine) was derived from the second meaning, referring to magazines published by such groups.

Edokko 江戸っ子 ("child of Edo") - someone whose family has lived in Edo for three generations. Characterized by a boisterous, quick-tempered nature; proud, daring and loose with his money so that he "never let the sun rise on his earnings."

e-goyomi 絵暦 - pictorial calendar; illustration containing clues to the long and short months of the year

ehon 絵本 - woodblock-printed picture books.

fūkei-ga 風景画 - landscape or cityscape pictures.  Landscape was not considered a typical subject for early ukiyo-e until the early 1720s.  Landscape often served as a backdrop and emerged as a separate genre in the later 18th century.

fukeoyama 老女方 - actor specialized in old women roles.

fukeyaku 老役 - old people roles. The actors playing female fukeyaku roles are called fukeoyama. The actors playing male fukeyaku roles are called oyajigata.

fukurotoji 袋綴 ("pouch-binding") - The most common type of book-binding in Japan, made of thin sheets of paper which are inscribed or printed on only one side, folded in half, text/image side out, and stacked together. Covers are added to the front and back, and the book is stitched along the spine (the edges opposite the folds) so that each double-leaved page forms a pouch, fukuro 袋, which is open at the top and bottom. Although variations exist, typically four tiny holes are made at equidistant lengths along the spine edge and the sheets and covers are then bound together tightly with thread.

fukuseiga 複製画 (fukusei hanga) - reproduction print.  A somewhat confusing term in that it is used both for woodblock print copies after original ukiyo-e and woodblock prints modeled after paintings, watercolors or drawings not otherwise intended for the print medium.

fūzokuga 風俗画 – pictures of manners and customs.

gadan 画壇 - art establishment.

gafu 画譜 - picture book or album.

gagō 雅号 - art or studio name.  Also seen as gō.

geimei 芸名 -  Usually used when referring to an actor's or entertainer's stage name.

geisha 芸者 - literally, "art person". A female performer specializing in entertaining and providing companionship to men at dinner parties. They are skilled in classic Japanese arts, such as music (esp. samisen), poetry and calligraphy.

gō 号 - artist name.  An individual's name other than real name (honmei) or nickname (azana).  In the case of artists one character of the teacher's name was passed on to the student to create a gagō or art name.  Print designers could and did periodically change gagō.

gofun 胡粉 - "shell white" made of calcium carbonate powder obtained by heating and pulverizing the shells of oysters and clams.  In woodblock prints, gofun was sometimes rubbed directly on the picture surface, or sprinkled to give the effect of falling snow.  This technique is called gofun-chirashi (shell white spattering).

gōkan 合巻 - books in which the story was written as a series of pamphlets liberally illustrated with woodblock prints and then bound as a single volume.

haiku 俳句 - a short poem in seventeen syllables, usually arranged in three 5-7-5 syllable phrases, often capturing a mood or feeling.

haimyō 俳名 - literary name of a kabuki actor.

hanga 版画 - the general term for a print, first used in 1905 in the magazine Heitan which was founded by Yamamoto Kanae (1882-1946), Ishii Hakutei (1882-1958) and a few others.

hanshita-e 版下絵 - a preparatory drawing executed in black ink on thin paper pasted to a woodblock and used to carve the outlines of the design.

harimaze-e 張交絵 - a print containing two or more subjects on a single page, designed to be cut apart and used for ornamenting small screens, etc.