Home - Glossary of Japanese terms, names and references used on Koi Oriental

Thanks for kind permission from Japan Reference for many of the links on this page. Thanks to David Burgess of Jade Pavilions for reviewing this glossary.

Cha-no-yu

"Cha-no-yu is just to boil water, make tea and only drink it...this you should know!" These are the words of the famous tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591). Cha-no-yu has been thought of as a cultural activity unique to Japan, but in recent years there have been many people practicing it around the world.

Cha-shitsu

A small Japanese garden pavilion or room within a house, specifically designed for the tea ceremony.

Daitoku-ji temple

Daitoku-ji is the main temple of the Daitoku school of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism. The temple complex to the north of Kyoto has some 22 monasteries including the famous Daisen-in (Abbotts garden), Hoshun-in, Kohrin-in, Koto-in, Ryogen-in & Zuiho-in. The Daitoku-ji temple was founded in 1319, but was destroyed by a fire and rebuilt in the 16th century.

Daimyo

The daimyos were part of the warrior class. They were nobles at the top of the samurai class. Daimyo translates to mean "great names." The daimyos were the shogun's representatives. They ran the estates according to the shogun's rules. Their swords were their most valuable possessions because they were required to use them often to demonstrate their loyalty to the shogun. They had high social status as members of the warrior class. They lived in huge castles surrounded by moats.

Emperor

The Emperor and the imperial family had the highest social status. He was a figurehead, a leader in name only. He was the religious leader, but had little political power, and in reality was under control of the shogun's clan. Economically, the people of all other classes of society provided for the Emperor and his court.

Heian Shrine.

Heian Jingu is a two thirds scale reconstitution of the Heian-period Imperial Palace. It was built in 1895 in the style of the Chinese Tang dynasty to commemorate the 1,100th anniversary of the founding of Kyoto.

Himeji castle

Himeji Castle, otherwise called "Shirasagijo" (Egret Castle), is situated in Himeji City of Hyogo prefecture about 50 km west of Osaka. It is about 370 years since Himeji Castle was constructed in its present shape. This is the only excellent castle which architecturally represents Japanese culture and at the same time, has handed down its original design at the time of construction.

Honden

The most sacred site in a shrine complex is the Honden (Kami sanctuary) in which the mountain divinities are honoured.

Inari shrine

The Shinto goddess of rice and saki, Princess Ukatama is guarded by foxes (kitsune), the male usually holds the ball of wisdom in his mouth and the female holds the key to the rice storehouse. The red (torii) entrance seen at all Shinto shrines indicates that the ground beyond is sacred. Shrines dedicated to Ukatama are by far the most common of all shrines in Japan and they are called Inari jinja.

Itsukushima shrine

Considered by the Japanese to be one of the countries "best three views", Itsukushima shrine is a 1400 year Shinto holy place constructed over the water in a small inlet on Miyajima Island. The shrine is made up of 56 structures that were built in the distinctive Shinden architectural style popular during Japan's Heian Period. Dramatically located further out to sea facing the shrine is the famous Otorii. It serves as a gate to the seaward entrance to the shrine. Due to the corrosive effects of saltwater and damage from typhoons the torii has had to be rebuilt several times over the past thousand years.

Jikko-in garden

Located in the north of Rakuhoku Ohara within the Sanzen-in temple complex, main temple of the Tendai sect, Jikko-in was built as a monastery of the Shorin-in Temple during the Kamakura Period and is dedicated to Jizo Bodhisattva. The garden was designed in the late Edo period as a chisen (pond & fountain) kansho (viewing) style garden with roji (tea garden) and teahouse.

Kami

Shinto gods are called kami. They are sacred spirits that take the form of things and concepts important to life, such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers and fertility. Humans become kami after they die and are revered by their families as ancestral kami.

Kamigamo shrine

Pre-dating Kyoto itself, the Kamigamo Shrine is dedicated to the god of thunder and has one of the few real expanses of lawn in the city. It is one of Kyoto's oldest Shinto shrines.

Kasuga Taisha shrine

Kasuga Taisha Shrine is one of the most important Shinto shrines in Nara and is one of the "Three Great Shrines" of Japan. It was officially established in 768 by the Fujiwara clan when the capital was moved to Nara, but is believed to date from the beginning of the Nara period (710). The shrine is located at the western foot of Mt. Mikasa and Mt. Kasuga, sacred mountains from which the Shinto kami (gods) first descended. The shrine is noted for its many lanterns (about 3000), which are lit in February and August.

Kinkaku-ji

Listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1994, Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion) is the popular name of one building of Rokuon-ji (Deer Park Temple), a temple dedicated to the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Kannon. The land was first a mountain getaway for Saionji Kitsune (1171-1244) and included both a temple and a villa. The estate withered away and became the property of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408), the third shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate, who built Kitayamaden as a retirement estate in 1398. After his death in 1419, the grounds were turned into a Buddhist temple for the Rinzai sect and Muso Kokushi was appointed abbot as per Yoshimitsu's will. The name Rokuon comes from Yoshimitsu's Buddhist name

Kiyomizu-dera temple

Kyoto is famous for many things, cultural centres, the ancient capital of Japan, the geisha of Gion and its many temples. The largest and most famous temple in Kyoto is Kiyomizu-dera temple on the east side of Kyoto. Kiyomizu-dera Temple was first built over 1000 years ago. It was reconstructed in 1633 and extends out over the mountainside on stilts, offering stunning views over Kyoto.

Kobori Enshu

Enshu was the most brilliant disciple among those that gathered around the teamaster Furuta Oribe. After Oribe was ordered to commit suicide, Enshu succeeded him, establishing a new form of tea ceremony. But it is his garden design and construction work for which he was known both to his contemporaries and to us today. Unfortunately, it is difficult to know which gardens he actually designed and many sites claim him as their designer, though the provenance is often quite murky.

Kodai-ji Temple

Located near Kiyomizu-dera temple in eastern Kyoto, the Kodai-ji temple gardens were designed by the widow of a shogun warrior Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1601 to honour his memory. The garden was re-designed by Kobori Ensyu. The north section of the pond is an island in the form of a turtle and in the south section is a crane arrangement.

Kohrin-in

Kohrin-in was built as the family temple of Seamonno-suke Hatakeyama, Lord of Noto prefecture, about A.D. 1520. The temple took the Buddhist name of the founder. The first priest Shohkei was one of the most distinguished priests Daitoku-ji school has ever produced. Many Chinese arts of the Gen Era and many important letters of old times are in Kohrin-in.

Koko-en gardens

This Japanese Himeji garden was designed on the former site of the Nishi Oyashiki's west residence and other samurai houses discovered during excavations. Comprising the garden of the Feudal Lord's Residence, the Tea Garden and seven other unique gardens, it offers a glimpse into the heart of Japanese culture. Koko-en, which literally means "love-of-the-old garden," is named after the school "Kokodo" founded by the Sakai family, former feudal lords of Himeji.

Koma inu

Koma inu are a pair of guardian Korean dogs or lions, often found on each side of a shrine's entrance. In the case of Inari Shrines, they are foxes rather than dogs.

Kyoto

Kyoto was Japan's capital and the emperor's residence from 794 until 1868. It is now the country's seventh largest city with a population of 1.4 million people and a modern face.

Lady Murasaki (973-1025)

Murasaki Shikibu is the best known writer to emerge from Japan's glorious Heian period. Her novel, The Tale of Genji (Genji-monogatari) is considered to be one of the world's finest and earliest novels. Some argue that Murasaki is the world's first modern novelist.

Matsue

Matsue (pop. 140,000) is the capital of Shimane prefecture, one of Japan's least densely populated regions. One of the striking features of the town is its geographic position on the Ohashi river, right between Lake Shinji-ko and Lake Nakanoumi, both separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land (3 to 5 km wide). Matsue is thus literally built on waters, with canals dividing each neighbourhood. There aren't any major tourist attractions, but the town is pleasant and relaxed, it is reputed for 18th century teahouses and has one of Japan's last surviving castles preserved in its original state. On a hill overlooking Matsue is the Meimei-an teahouse, one of the oldest and best preserved. On the northern edge of the castle moat, the Buke Yashiki is a well-preserved, though modest samurai residence, built in 1730. Matsue used to be a Samurai district. Still facing the moat, the Tanabe Art Museum has Edo-period tea ceremony paraphernalia from the Tanabe clan. Next to it is a house where Greco-Irish writer Lafcadio Hearn spent one year of his life, and is adjoined by a museum.

Nara Prefecture

It is situated approximately centre of Japan, the heart of Kii Peninsula, surrounded by Osaka, Kyoto, Wakayama, and Mie prefectures. With a population of some 1.44 million people, 60% of the prefectural area is occupied by forest. Its main industries are textiles, timber and lumber. Nara occupies an important position in the history of Japan; it is said that the first state was located in Nara. Nara is also a home of various World Heritage sites such as Todaiji Temple, Horyuji Temple, and others including numerous Buddhist art and architecture classified as National Treasures and Important Cultural Assets.

Oda Nobunaga (1534 - 1582)

Along with Tokugawa Ieyashu he played a key role in shaping the course of history in feudal Japan. His policy of unifying a country controlled by many feuding daimyo was furthered in a series of victories characterized by brilliant tactics and the first organized use of firearms.

Omikuji

Omikuji are fortunes written on slips of paper and sold at temples and shrines all over Japan. Randomly drawn, they contain predictions ranging from daikichi ("great good luck") to daikyo ("great bad luck"). The paper strips containing the bad luck messages are tied to the trees and bushes at the shrines hoping that their luck will be changed for the better.

Rozan-jiTemple

Located in Kyoto and founded by the Priest Ryogen, this temple was built on the site of the former manor of Murasaki Shikibu, the author of 'The Tale of Genji,' in 938. Its garden is composed of just rocks and sand.

Sakuteiki scrolls

The 1000 year old gardening classic, Sakuteiki, or "Records of Garden Making," is the oldest surviving work on Japanese gardening, and may be the oldest book on garden design and construction in the world. Composed during the Heian period, this work delves into the culture and customs of ancient Japanese society, offering insight into the Japanese view not only of gardening, but also of living life. Sakuteiki serves as a metaphor for the Japanese way of life, powerfully illuminating the overall culture of ancient Japan.

Samurai

The samurai were professional warriors of the military aristocracy. They were loyal to the shogun and daimyos, in whose castles they resided. Their position gave them fairly high social status, but little political power. Their economic needs were met by lower classes similar to the arrangement with the daimyos and the shogun.

Sanzen-in temple

Located in Ohara, Sanzen-in temple is a Tendai-sect temple in which imperial family members served in the priesthood. It began as a single structure raised by Saicho (767-822) after he built himself a simple hermitage on Mt. Hiei.. An important cultural property it is representative of the10th-12th centuries.

Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591)

During the 16th century the feudal lords throughout Japan were continually fighting for power, while the wealthy merchants in Sakai supported the peace and prosperity of the city by amassing a huge amount of wealth through foreign trade and other activities. These merchants also supported the advanced cultures of Japan at the time including the chado tea ceremony. Sen no Rikyu is the most famous master of chado who raised the tea ceremony to an art form called wabi cha, a simple and austere type of tea ceremony, which is still widely practiced today.

Sento and Omiya Palaces

The Sento and Omiya Palaces in Kyoto were constructed early in the seventeenth century within the larger Imperial Palace complex as a residence for the retired Emperor Gomizuno and Empress Dowager Tofukumon-in. Sento palace no longer exists, but the stroll gardens of the north and south ponds located to the east of the palace has survived in roughly its original form. Part of the Omiya Palace survives to this day.

Sesshu-ji

This is the oldest of the three sub-temples at Tofukuji, Kyoto. Sesshu (a famous painter) is thought to be responsible for the gardens. The gardens were destroyed by fire and long neglected until their restoration in 1939 by Shigemori Mirei. There are actually two connected gardens.

Shakkei

Shakkei (borrowed landscape) the method of using the surrounding landscape in traditional Japanese gardens as an integral part of the composition.

Shinkansen

Japanese bullet train.

Shogun

The shogun was the military leader of the most powerful of the Emperor's clans. The clans often fought to acquire this high social status. The shogun was the actual political ruler. He had a high social status and those of the other classes provided for his economic needs in return for protection and privileges.

Shoin buildings

The Muromachi Period (1333-1567) was a time when the military aristocracy tried to emulate the courtier life styles that preceded them, at least in the sense of aesthetic value. The deterioration of the old court nobility led to free, more casual relations between the upper and lower classes of society and between the members of the military elite. The advent of new cultural pursuits such as the tea ceremony and the desire to display Chinese art and artifacts resulted in new forms of architecture to adjust with these changing patterns in lifestyles. Originally, shoin referred to a single room used for study and daily living. Shoin architecture began with the increase of the samurai class and was developed through aesthetics and beauty.

Sukiya style

This graceful and modest style of building has been Japan's primary style of residential architecture for more than 400 years. The methods behind the construction of the tea room have had an effect that extended even to home architecture, creating a new style. This is the Sukiya style, a type of architecture best exemplified by the shoin of the Katsura detached palace. This style of architecture involved taking as its base the shoin building style used in residential architecture up to that point and introducing into each of the structural elements the materials and methods used in the building of tea rooms.

Tentoku-in

Tentoku-in temple is a large temple belonging to the Soto denomination. Tama Hime (Princess Tama) the granddaughter of Hidetada, the second Shogun came from Edo to Kanazawa to be the bride of Maeda Toshitsune the third lord of Kaga when she was three years old. She died in 1622 leaving seven children. Tentoku-in became the family shrine and it is where she is buried.

Todai-ji temple

Situated in Nara, Todai-ji was founded by Emperor Shomu in 745 to protect against the horrible epidemics which were commonplace at that time, and to consolidate the power of the Imperial throne. The temple took more than 15 years to build and is dedicated to the Vairocana Buddha. The main hall is still the world's largest wooden building, even though it was rebuilt in 1790 at only two-thirds of the original size. It is 57m by 50m and 49m high housing the 18m Buddha.

Tofuku-ji temple

This temple is the head temple of the Tofukuji School of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism. It was built in 1236 on the instructions of Kujo Michiie, the great statesman of the Kamakura period. The temple's name is an association of Nara's two main temples, the Todai-ji and Kofuku-ji. Its original buildings were burned but were rebuilt in the 15th century according to the original plans.

Torii gate

This entrance gate signifies that the ground beyond the gate is sacred. It is found at Shinto shrines and comprises two upright posts with one or two cross bars. It is usually painted vermillion and black. At the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto there is an avenue of 10,000 torii. The largest torii is to be found crossing the main four lane entrance road to the Heian Jingu shrine and stands some 80m high with 4m diameter posts.

Tsubo-niwa

Tsubo niwa (courtyard gardens) are the small gardens in the spaces left between buildings. These enabled light and air to penetrate the dark interiors of traditional buildings.

Yotsume gaki

A generic name for a bamboo lattice (four eyed) fence. Typically, green long pointed bamboo are arranged vertically and horizontally and tied with cord. It separates areas of different interest or meaning while allowing the area beyond to be seen.

For an understanding of Japan's historical timeline please see below.

These links cover the timeline 10,000BC to present day and offer very interesting reading. This information is available by kind permission to Koi Oriental from Japan Reference and is the copyright of Japan Reference.