Index_Glossary_Si_thru

Ukiyo-e Prints

浮世絵版画

Port Townsend, Washington

A CLICKABLE

INDEX/GLOSSARY

(Hopefully this will be an ever changing and growing list.)

Si thru Tengai

The blue vajra bell is being used to mark

additions made to this page in December 2008.

The Halloween witch head was used in November 2008.

The rooster, rake, toshidama are being used

to mark additions in October 2008.

TERMS FOUND ON THIS PAGE:

Siddhartha, Sino-Japanese War, Soba noodles, Soku mie,

Sosaku hanga, Martha Stewart, Sugi, Sugoroku, Suidobashi,

Suidobashi,Suji-guma, Sung Dynasty, Suzume-bachi,

Tachibana, Tachibina,Tai, Takagi Umanosuke, Takanoha,

Takao, Takarabune,Takaramono, Takara zukushi, Take, Taki,

Takuhon, A Tale of Two Cities,Tamagushi, Tamaya, Tan,

Tanabata, Tanawa, Tanuki, Tatewaku, Tebori, Teihatsu,

Tempō Reforms, Ten and Tengai

日清戦争, 蕎麦, 束見栄, 創作版画, 杉, 双六, 水道橋, 筋隈, 宋朝,

雀蜂, 太刀, 橘, 立雛, 鯛, 鷹の羽, 高尾, 宝船, 寳物, 寳づくし,

竹, 瀧, 拓版, 二都物語, 玉串, 玉屋, 丹, 棚機, 手縄,

狸, 立涌, 手彫り, 剃髪, 天保の改革, 点 and 天蓋

シッダールタ, にっしんせんそう, そば, そくみえ, そうさくはんが,

すぎ, すごろく, すいどうばし, すじくま, そうちょう, すずめばち,

たちばな, たちびな, たい, たかのは, たかお, たからぶね,

たからもの,

etc.

TERM/NAME	KANJI/KANA	DESCRIPTION/ DEFINITION/ CATEGORY Click on the light green numbers to go to linked pages.
Siddhartha	シッダールタ	A 1922 novel by Hermann Hesse based on the life of the first historical Buddha. He is also referred to as Shakyamuni (釈迦 or しゃか). 1
Sino-Japanese War	日清戦争にっしんせんそう	War between Japan and China 1894-5. 1
Soba noodles	蕎麦そば	1
Soku mie	束見栄そくみえ	Those familiar with ballet know that in the first position the dancer stands with the feet touching at the heels. The same is true here. Soku means 'sheaf' and I would suppose that the position of the actor in some ways mimics our vision of that object. There are quite a few different types of poses - "...a nonrealistic, sculpturesque, dance-like pose taken by one of more actors at a climactic moment in a play to make a powerful impression." Quote from: New Kabuki Encyclopedia: A Revised Adaptation of kabuki jiten, compiled by Samuel L. Leiter, 1997, pp. 403-5. The image to the left above is a detail from a print by Kuniyasu where an actor is assuming the soku mie pose. The lower example is from a Toyokuni III vertical diptych. Click on the number 1 in the column to the right to see the full diptych. 1 *Leiter in his The Art of Kabuki: Five Famous Plays (published by Dover in 1999, p. 257) refers to soku* as "standing like a sheaf".**
Sosaku hanga	創作版画そうさくはんが	Creative print: a 20th c. invention where the artists does the drawing, carves the blocks and prints all by himself. 1
Sugi	杉すぎ	Cryptomeria motif: Dower notes that the "stately cryptomeria" was associated with numerous Shinto shrines from the earliest times. For that reason the wearing of this tree as a crest took on a religious significance. It also was considered an auspicious sign. Source: The Elements of Japanese Design, by John W. Dower, pp. 54-5. 1
Sugoroku	双六すごろく	A game played with dice on a large sheet of paper illustrated with a series of pictures. Like parcheesi a player moves according to the toss of the die. Traditionally it was played by children at New Year's.
Suidobashi	水道橋すいどうばし	An aqueduct bridge over the Kanda river/canal in the Ochanomizu district. Today it is only a traffic bridge. 1
Suji-guma	筋隈すじくま	"Streaked" makeup: A special type of lined makeup meant to enhance actors performing in the aragoto or "rough stuff" style. It is meant to strengthen their masculine presence. Originated by Ichikawa Danjūrō (1689-1758) possibly influenced by earlier Chinese sources. The detail to the left is from an 1894 print by Kunichika of Ichikawa Sadanji I as Umeōmaru.
Sung dynasty	宋朝そうちょう	Chinese dynasty noted for its cultural refinements 1
Suzume-bachi	雀蜂すずめばち	Wasp or hornet 1
Tachibana	橘たちばな	A citrus fruit motif perhaps the mandarin orange: "Reputedly brought to Japan from China in the 3rd century A.D., the mandarin orange was immediately admired for its glossy green leaves, fragrant blossoms, and beautiful, succulent fruit." Quote from: The Elements of Japanese Design, by John W. Dower, pp. 62.
Tachibina	立雛たちびな	Standing dolls are usually made of paper. There is the taller male figure and the shorter female. He wears a short-sleeved kimono or kosode with hakama (袴 or はかま) 'pants' or formal divided skirt. She, a paper wrapped cylinder, also wears a kosode tied off with a paper obi. 1
Tai	鯛たい	The king of fish. Served on New Year's holidays and on other special occasions. 1
Takagi Umanosuke in Bingo Province		Subject of a print by Kuniyoshi from the series "Sixty Odd Provinces of Japan - Dramatic Chapters" 1
Takanoha	鷹の羽たかのは	Falcon feather motif: Considering the masculine nature of falconry and its appeal to the military class it is no surprise that this motif would be used as a family crest or mon. Merrily Baird in her Symbols of Japan: Thematic Motifs in Art and Design (p. 108) she notes that "...falcons and hawks became natural emblems of the Japanese warrior class due to their keen eyesight, their predatory nature, and their boldness." In crest design feathers were understood to be substitutes for the full images of falcons.
Takao	高尾たかお	Tragic courtesan from the kabuki play "Date Kurabe Okuni Kabuki" or a similar play working with the same basic theme. Today it is only known as a minor subplot of a more important, but originally unrelated work. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Takarabune	宝船たからぶね	Treasure ship which is said to sail into ports on New Year's carrying the Seven Propitious Gods and their jewels and other symbols of good luck. The image to the left is a detail from a print by Toyokuni I and shows only two of the seven gods.
Takaramono	寳物たからもの	The "Myriad Treasures" often linked to the 7 Propitious Gods. 1
Takara zukushi	寳づくしたからづくし	Assorted lucky treasures
Take	竹たけ	The bamboo motif: The plant was imported into Japan from China and became a basic element in the gardens of the nobility. This association with the upper classes is not surprising considering its significance to the Chinese. In China there were only two - some say three - recognized arts. The greatest was calligraphy and the other was painting. Both were performed with basically the same materials. In painting the greatest form was the rendering of bamboo. Intrinsic to the plant were all kinds of positive traits: resilience in the face of adversity, i.e., wind or cold and suppleness or its ability to bend and adapt. There were judged to be among the most desirable qualities. In Japan many warrior families adopted the bamboo in form or another as their family crest or mon. 1
Taki	瀧たき	A waterfall. (Eikei, one of our correspondents and one of the great contributors to this site, notes that nowadays a simplified form of the kanji character is more commonly used although that is not how it appears on most ukiyo prints. The simpler form is 滝.) To the left is a detail of a print of a waterfall by Hiroshige. 1
Takuhon	拓版たくはん	Roger Keyes gives an absolutely poetical description of this technique. "Jakuchū adapted an old printing technique recently revived in the Kyoto area called takuhon, or 'rubbing,' which reversed black and white. Jakuchū's black outline drawing is white. The white sky is black. The river is gray. The riverbank and landscape are dark gray near the water, shading to light. The effect is startling. Like a Zen koan, it stops thought. Creates wonder. Enchantment." Keyes is referring to the long, scroll-like printing of "Aboard the Ship of Inspiration." I first saw a copy of this masterpiece on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was all alone at the time. No crowds. A Noguchi fountain nearby was doing its very Zen-like thing and like Keyes said: "...it stops thought." Keyes also notes that this art work was not produced in the traditional way: "...the printer did not ink the blocks, but gradually built each print by tapping ink onto the paper..." through the use of a tanbo [たんぼ] or "...large ball of inked cotton fiber wrapped in cloth." Source and quotes: Ehon: The Artist and the Book in Japan published by the New York Public Library and the University of Washington Press, 2006, p. 86. See also our entry on ishizuri-e on our Hil thru I index/glossary page and also comments about this technique on one of our Gengyo pages.
A Tale of Two Cities	二都物語	Novel by Charles Dickens (チャールズ・ディッケンズ). 1
Tamagushi	玉串たまぐし	"A branch of the sacred sakaki tree with zig-zag strips (shide) of paper or cloth, or lengths of tree fibers (yû) attached." They may be used as offerings or amulets and the tama element may have its origin in Nihonga which mentions a sakaki decorated with jewels. Strangely reminiscent of a Christmas tree.
Tamaya	玉屋たまや	A prominent brothel in the Yoshiwara 1
Tan	丹たん	An orange lead pigment which often shows oxidation. Personally I find this an extremely attractive element within Japanese prints. But that may be just my taste. In the early 18th century "...artists began to apply a few colors to the print by use of a brush. This type of colored print was called a tan-e because of the red pigment (tan) that was used." *"Tan* (yellowish red) is made of lead, saltpeter, and sulfur.... It is a pleasing color, but unfortunately, its tone is likely to change." Quotes from: Japanese Print-Making: A Handbook of Traditional & Modern Techniques, by Toshi Yoshida & Rei Yuki, Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1966, pp. 20 and 54.** In a technical section on dyes at the end of Japanese Woodblock Prints: A Catalogue of the Mary A. Ainsworth Collection (p. 254) Robert Feller, Mary Curran and Catherine Bailie note that "Although inorganic pigments tend to be stable...some of these can also readily change in appearance.... Red lake and white lead can discolor owing to the chemical reaction of these pigments with sulfides in the atmosphere, causing them to darken owing to the formation of black lead sulfide."
Tanabata	棚機たなばた	The Weaver or Star Festival originally held on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. That explains why it can also be written as 七夕. As the Star Festival it was also called the 星祭り or Hoshi Matsuri (ほしまつり). Today the festival is held on July 7th. ¶ The story is well known in many variations. The Weaver Maiden, clothier to the gods, also known as the star Vega and daughter of the King of Heaven, falls in love with the stellar Herdsman identified with the star Altair. The attraction is mutual and so much so that they find it difficult to keep apart. Because of their obsessions weaving and herding go wanting. Once their liaisons were discovered the Weaver Maiden's father separates the couple by placing them at opposite sides of the Milky Way, but his daughter's grief is palpable. Eventually he relents and agrees to let his daughter rendezvous with her lover once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month. They are able to join each other via a bridge of magpies. However, if it happens to be cloudy that night the tryst is off and the lovers have to wait for the next year. Ivan Morris in The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan (p. 156) the Tanabata Matsuri was first celebrated at Court in 734 A.D. Morris notes the Chinese origin of this celebration. There the maiden was called Chih-nü and the herdsman Chien-niu. "The festival was adapted by the Japanese Court from the Chi chiao Tien celebrations in China, and became immensely popular throughout most of the country possibly because of its romantic connotations." (p. 162) "Leaves are spread in the garden of the Emperor's Residential Palace and, when it is dark, His Majesty and his Court seat themselves there to watch the meeting of the Weaver and the Herdsman [the stars Vega and Altair]. Poems are dedicated to the two stars, music is played all night, and the Magpie Dance is performed. Similar observances take place inprivate ouseholds, and women pray to the Weaver for help in weaving, sewing, music, and poetry." (Ibid.) Donald Keene adds an interesting note to this Chinese-Japanese connection: "New themes, new modes of expression, and new uses of poetry were quickly naturalized, but the Japanese remained reluctant to borrow Chinese words for use in Japanese poetry. When, for example, the Japanese came to celebrate the Chinese festival commemorating the two stars that meet once a year, the seventh night of the seventh month, they called the occasion by a Japanese name, Tanabata, and carefully avoided terminology that might suggest the festival had foreign origins." Quoted from Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from the Earliest times to the Late Sixteenth Century, by Donald Keene, Henry Holt and Company, 1993, pp. 86-87.
Tanawa	手縄たなわ	*The guide ropes held by the cormorant fisherman to control and retrieve his birds. See our entry on ukai.* The image to the left is a detail from a print by Eisen. We have added the yellow pointer for clarity.
Tanuki	狸たぬき	An animal with supernatural powers which are viewed as more humorous than threatening. Often portrayed with an exceedingly large scrotum. 1, 2
Tatewaku	立涌たてわく	An ancient decorative motif made up of double wavy lines which repeat a pattern of narrowing and widening into a bulge before narrowing again. The bulges are often filled with other known motifs. Probably of Chinese origin. 1
Tebori	手彫りてぼり	Hand-carved: The traditional Japanese use of needles to create a tattoo. Tebori can also refer to the carving of seals, jewelry or anything else for that matter. However, in the case of tattooing a distinction is made in that it refers to the technique used prior to the invention of the electric needle. Tebori is still being practiced. The image to the left below is a doctored detail from an image by Yoshitoshi showing a tattoo being applied in the traditional manner. 1
Teihatsu	剃髪ていはつ	Tonsure: The shaved head of a monk. "Eminent nuns were perceived as having overcome their gender by symbolically becoming men. Although such cases remain exceptions, even ordinary nuns can be said to have loosened the gender constraints, inasmuch as ordination was a way for them to transcend the gender. Tonsure was believed to have the same effect as cremation, providing access to the Pure Land by transforming women into men." Quoted from: The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender, by Bernard Faure, published by Princeton University Press, 2003, p. 114-15. "In the late medieval and Edo periods, courtesans were often indicated by the term bikuni (nuns), or, upon occasion maruta (round[-headed] ones), an allusion to their tonsure." (Ibid., p. 254) Bikuni = 比丘尼 or びくに; maruta = まるた
Tempō Reforms	天保の改革てんぽうのかいかく	At some time in the future I will deal with the general aspects of the Tempō Reforms, but for now I want to address the edicts specifically as they pertained to the production and sale of ukiyo woodblock prints. There is a fascinating article by J. J. O'Brien Sexton in a 1913 edition of "The International Studio" (p. 313): ""The Dating of Japanese Colour-Prints in 1842". In it Sexton refers to a copy of a document he received from Hogitaro Inada stating the prohibitions as they pertained to Japanese prints. "On the 4th day of the 6th month, 1842, the Yedo Machi Bugyō issued a proclamation to the effect that the sale or purchase of single-sheet prints of actors, courtesans, geishas and such like, being detrimental to morals, no new blocks for the same were to be made; nor were pictures of these subjects already in stock to be bought or sold." Also included were books with colored covers which incorporated prints along with texts. "Henceforth, subjects calculated to instil into young people's minds good moral precepts, such as loyalty, filial piety and chastity [sound familiar?] &c., were to be chosen; written description of pictures were to be abbreviated; no useless labor was to be expended on the covers and wrappers, and the use of colours thereon was strictly forbidden. All new publications were, on completion, to be submitted for 'Examination' (Aratame) to the 'Machi Toshiyori'; but no new series of pictures of more than three sheets nor books of an obscene character were to be permitted for sale.'" [See our entry on nanushi for information on the censor seals of this period.] ¶ "(The "Machi Bugyō" was a sort of governor with administrative and judicial functions. The "Toshiyori" were counselors or advisors to the "Nanushi" or Mayor [or as many dictionaries have it - the headman].)" Sadahide and one of his publishers and his staff were all fined for attempting to market "...a caricature of Kuniyoshi's well-known print of Minamoto Raiko and the Earth Spider.... This took place on the 26th day of the 12th month, 1843."
Ten	点てん	Dot pattern as used in clothing.
Tengai	天蓋てんがい	The woven sedge hat worn by mendicant monks of the Fuke group of the Rinzai sect. These monks were never to take this item off whenever they were outside the confines of their monastery or temple. Of course, in time others started wearing these hoods as a form of disguise. They came to serve new purposes for lovers' trysts, criminals and spies. Tengai also translates as canopy or dome. The image to the left shows a detail of a tengai being held by a secret lover in a print by Harunobu.
Tengai	天蓋てんがい	Canopy: One of the 8 Treasures of Buddhist symbology. Said to protect the faithful sickness and poverty. The other seven symbols are the conch shell, the Buddhist wheel, the sacred parasol, the lotus flower, the sacred vase, the urn and the bancho which is similar to the endless knot representing eternal life. Note: The motifs decorating the bottom of the canopy do not consist of the other 7 treasures. Although these images were also considered auspicious there was a lot of mixing and matching going on over the centuries and I am not sufficiently versed to know when each grouping appeared and under what guise. The detail to the left is from a print by Kuniyoshi. The green cartouche is part of the prints design. I have left it in the image because it overlaps the canopy itself. *For a discussion of the swastika symbol to to our Kutsuwa thru Mok index/glossary page and look at our entry on manji.* Also note that the kanji for the canopy and the sedge hat shown in the entry above it are exactly the same. Considering their separate but similar religious connections their use of the same character makes sense.