Japanese Vocabulary

A number of Japanese words related to sumi-e have been used in this course. It is not necessary that you know what they are in order to be a successful sumi-e artist, but learning them will facilitate communication. This is a review of the most important words that have been introduced so far, organized by category to facilitate learning related groups of words.

               General Vocabulary               

• sumi black ink (One of the Four Treasures)

• gansai colored ink

• sumi-e
  - or -
  suibokuga black ink painting

• suzuri Ink grinding stone (One of the Four Treasures)

• fude brush (One of the Four Treasures)

• washi rice paper (contains no rice) (One of the Four Treasures)

• fudemaki roll-up brush storage container, traditionally made of bamboo reeds bound together

• sensei teacher

• 
  

               Brush Holding Styles               

• chokuhitsu vertical stroke

• sokuhitsu slanting stroke

• 
  

               Shades of Sumi               

• nōboku dark sumi

• chūboku medium sumi

• tanboku light sumi

• 
  

               Painting Techniques               

• senbyō-hō
  - or -
  kōroku-hō painting with lines like outlining or sketching

• mokkotsu-hō boneless (without lines) painting

• kōrokutensai-hō senbyō-hō combined with mōkkōtsu-hō; 

it doesn't matter which comes first

• sanboku-hō the loading of three shades if sumi on a brush

• genpitsu-hō minimal strokes

• teitōsobi-byō nail head and mouse tail technique

• shinten heart dots; used for orchid stamens

• tarashikomi application of drops of ink on wet, previous painted, washi

               Painting Subjects               

• shikunshi

The Four Gentlemen: four classic painting subjects representing four seasons; orchid (spring), bamboo (summer), chrysanthemum (fall), plum (winter)

               Calligraphy Styles             

• kaisho block script: used for everyday writing

• gyōsho semi-cursive script: simpler and softer form of kaisho

• sōsho cursive script: beautiful but hard to read writing 

• tensho seal script: used for hanko (signature blocks)

• reisho clerical script: used for newspaper names and stone writing (e.g., grave markers)