List of ukiyo-e terms

This is a list of terms frequently encountered in the description of ukiyo-e (浮世絵)-style Japanese woodblock prints and paintings. For a list of print sizes, see below.

• Aizuri-e (藍摺絵); "blue picture"
• Aka-e (赤絵); "red picture"
• Aratame (改); "examined" character found in many censor seals
• Baren (馬連、馬楝); a tool used to rub the back of a sheet of paper to pick up ink from the block
• Beni-e (紅絵); primitive ukiyo-e style prints, usually printed in pink^[1]
• Benizuri-e (紅刷絵, "crimson picture"); primitive ukiyo-e style prints, usually printed in pink and green
• Bijin-ga (美(び)人(じん)画(が)); pictures of beautiful women
• Bokashi (printing) (ぼかし); technique of applying a gradation of ink to a moistened block to vary lightness and darkness (value) of a single colour
• Censor seal; from 1790 until 1876 all woodblock prints had to be examined by official censors, and marked with their seals
• Chūban (中判); a print size about 7 by 10 inches (18 cm × 25 cm)
• Chūtanzaku (中短冊判); a print size about 14 by 5 inches (36 cm × 13 cm)
• Edo period (江戸時代, Edo jidai); dating from 1603 to 1868, the period when Japanese society was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate
• E-hon (絵本); "picture book"
• Fudezaishiki (筆彩色); colouring with a paintbrush
• Furikake (振り掛け); powdered minerals or metals sprinkled onto a print during the production process
• Gafu (画譜); album
• Ganso (元祖); "founder" prefix, used on a print to indicate the publisher
• Geisha (芸者); a common subject in ukiyo-e
• Hanga (版画); a print
• Hanmoto (版元); a publisher
• Hashira-e (柱絵, "pillar print"); a print size about 28 by 4.5 inches (71 cm × 11 cm)
• Horishi (彫師); a carver of woodblocks
• Hosoban (細判); a print size about 13 by 5 inches (33 cm × 13 cm)
• Iro-ban (色板); a colour block
• Jōge-e (上下絵); prints that can be viewed from either top or bottom
• The Tales of Ise (伊勢物語, Ise monogatari); an uta monogatari, or collection of waka poems and associated narratives, dating from the Heian period
• Ishizuri-e (石摺絵); a print that mimics a stone rubbing, with uninked images or text on a dark, usually black, background
• Ita-bokashi (板ぼかし, "block shading"); a technique for producing gradation achieved by sanding or abrading the edges of the carving
• Kakemono-e (掛物絵); an ōban diptych arranged one above the other (also a hanging scroll painting)
• Kachō-ga (花鳥画); paintings of flowers and birds
• Kakihan (書き判); the artist's tag, used on prints with (or instead of) a signature
• Kamigata (上方); region of Japan referring to the cities of Kyoto and Osaka
• Kappazuri (合羽摺); prints of a single colour (usually black) coloured by stenciling. Prints produced entirely by stenciling, without woodblocks, are also called kappazuri.
• Karazuri (空摺); dry printing, embossing
• Kasure-bori (掠れ彫り, "scratch carving"); style of woodblock carving imitating dry brushstrokes
• Kisokaidō (中山道); one of the Five Routes of the Edo period
• Kiwame (極); "approved" character found in many censor seals
• Kojita-e (小下絵); a rough sketch
• Komochi-e (子持絵); prints with moveable parts
• Mameban (豆判); a print size about 4.75 by 3.2 inches (12.1 cm × 8.1 cm), sometimes called a "toy print"
• Mount Fuji (富士山, Fujisan); the highest mountain in Japan, a common subject
• Musha-e (武者絵); warrior print
• Namazu-e (鯰絵); prints depicting the Japanese mythological giant catfish, the Namazu (鯰)
• Nikuhitsu-ga (肉筆画); a painting in the ukiyo-e style
• Nishiki-e (錦絵); multi-coloured woodblock printing
• Ōban (大判); a print size about 15.5 by 10.5 inches (39 cm × 27 cm)
• Ōkubi-e (大首絵); portrait prints, busts
• Schools (流派): Schools of ukiyo-e artists
• Senso-e (戰爭絵); prints depicting the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars
• Shin-hanga (新版画, "New prints"); 20th century ukiyo-e revival prints
• Shita-e (下絵); final preparatory drawing pasted onto the block for printing
• Shikishiban (色紙判); a print size about 8 by 7 inches (20 cm × 18 cm), often used for surimono
• Shomen-zuri (正面摺, "front-printing"); a polishing technique sometimes used to create a shiny surface on black areas in prints
• Shunga (春画, "spring image"); erotically themed art
• Surimono (摺物); privately commissioned prints for special occasions such as the New Year
• Surishi (摺師); a printer
• Tan-e (丹絵); primitive ukiyo-e style prints, usually printed in red^[1]
• Tate-e (縦絵); a print in vertical or "portrait" format
• Tenpō Reforms (天保の改革, Tenpō no kaikaku); an array of economic policies introduced in 1842 by the Tokugawa Shogunate, precursor to Meiji Restoration
• Tōkaidō (東海道); the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period
• Uchiwa-e (団扇絵); prints on paddle-shaped hand fans (uchiwa)
• Uki-e (浮絵, "floating picture"); a picture using linear perspective
• Ukiyo (浮世, "the floating world"); the culture of Edo-period Japan (1600–1867)
• Urushi-e (漆絵); paintings painted with lacquer, and a printing style using ink that resembles the darkness and thickness of black lacquer
• Waka (和歌); Japanese poetry
• Washi (和紙); traditional Japanese paper
• Yakusha-e (役者絵); prints of kabuki actors
• Yoko-e (横絵); a print in horizontal or "landscape" format
• Yokohama-e (横浜絵); prints depicting non-East Asian foreigners and scenes of Yokohama.

Print sizes

The Japanese terms for vertical (portrait) and horizontal (landscape) formats for images are tate-e (縦絵) and yoko-e (横絵), respectively.

Below is a table of common Tokugawa-period print sizes. Sizes varied depending on the period, and those given are approximate they are based on the pre-printing paper sizes, and paper was often trimmed after printing.

See also

• Schools of ukiyo-e artists
• Ukiyo-e
• Woodblock printing in Japan

References

Citations

Sources

• Faulkner, Rupert; Robinson, Basil William (1999). Masterpieces of Japanese Prints: Ukiyo-e from the Victoria and Albert Museum. Kodansha International. ISBN 978-4-7700-2387-2.
• Harris, Frederick (2011). Ukiyo-e: The Art of the Japanese Print. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 978-4-8053-1098-4.
• Lane, Richard. (1978). Images from the Floating World, The Japanese Print. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192114471 OCLC 5246796
• Newland, Amy Reigle. (2005). Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints. Amsterdam: Hotei. ISBN 9789074822657 OCLC 61666175
• Calza, Gian Carlo (2003). Hokusai. Phaidon. ISBN 0714844578.

External links

• A glossary of ukiyo-e terms
• Another glossary of ukiyo-e terms

This page was last edited on 12 March 2023, at 02:26