Arts
Kabuki, noh, rakugo, tea ceremony, flower arranging and calligraphy.
83 entriesTap a title to open the full entry: three lengths of English explanation, the questions people actually ask, ready-made phrases and audio.
Essential（11）
- ArtsEssential geiko芸者と舞妓professional entertainers trained in dance, music and hosting
- ArtsEssential Japanese garden日本庭園the traditional garden
- ArtsEssential haiku俳句the seventeen-syllable poem
- ArtsEssential ukiyo-e浮世絵woodblock prints
- ArtsEssential bonsai盆栽trees grown in trays
- ArtsEssential wadaiko和太鼓Japanese drums and the ensembles that play them
- BuddhismEssential gojunoto五重塔the five-storied pagoda
- BuddhismEssential telling Buddhist statues apart仏像の見分け方the four ranks of Buddhist image and how to read them
- Food & DrinkEssential matcha抹茶powdered green tea
- HistoryEssential Japanese castle城a castle of the warlord era
- PlacesEssential Gion祇園と花街the old Kyoto quarter where geiko and maiko still work
Standard（46）
- ArtsStandard igo囲碁the board game of go
- ArtsStandard Oku no Hosomichi奥の細道Basho's travel account of the deep north
- ArtsStandard kabuki歌舞伎classical Japanese theater
- ArtsStandard kumadori歌舞伎の隈取kabuki's bold, symbolic stage makeup
- ArtsStandard emaki絵巻the painted handscroll you unroll section by section
- ArtsStandard kakejiku掛け軸a hanging scroll displayed in an alcove
- ArtsStandard kyogen狂言the comic theater performed alongside noh
- ArtsStandard koto琴the thirteen-stringed Japanese zither
- ArtsStandard mie見得the frozen dramatic pose in kabuki
- ArtsStandard karesansui枯山水the dry landscape garden
- ArtsStandard shamisen三味線the three-stringed instrument played with a large plectrum
- ArtsStandard shishimai獅子舞the lion dance that bites your head for luck
- ArtsStandard shakuhachi尺八the bamboo flute once played by wandering monks
- ArtsStandard shodo書道Japanese calligraphy
- ArtsStandard shogi将棋Japanese chess
- ArtsStandard suibokuga水墨画ink painting in black and white, brought by Zen monks
- ArtsStandard ikebana生け花Japanese flower arrangement
- ArtsStandard stone lanterns and water basins石灯籠と蹲踞the stone furniture of a Japanese garden
- ArtsStandard senryu川柳the comic cousin of haiku, about people rather than nature
- ArtsStandard tanka短歌the thirty-one-syllable poem
- ArtsStandard chashitsu茶室the room built for a tea gathering
- ArtsStandard sado茶道the way of tea
- ArtsStandard choju giga鳥獣戯画the twelfth-century animal scrolls often called Japan's first manga
- ArtsStandard nihon buyo日本舞踊classical Japanese dance, largely grown out of kabuki
- ArtsStandard nomen能面the masks worn in noh theater
- ArtsStandard Hyakunin Isshu百人一首a hundred poems and the card game
- ArtsStandard mokuhanga木版画the woodblock printing behind ukiyo-e
- ArtsStandard rakugo落語solo comic storytelling
- ArtsStandard byobu屏風a folding screen
- BuddhismStandard shakyo写経copying a sutra by hand
- BuddhismStandard bonsho梵鐘the temple bell struck from the outside
- ConceptsStandard ichigo ichie一期一会one time, one meeting
- ConceptsStandard wabi-sabi侘び寂びbeauty in imperfection and age
- CraftsStandard ningen kokuho人間国宝a Living National Treasure, a state-certified master of a traditional art or craft
- Annual EventsStandard kakizome書き初めthe first calligraphy of the year
- FolkloreStandard Kaguya-himeかぐや姫the girl found in a bamboo stalk who returns to the moon
- Food & DrinkStandard kaiseki懐石料理the formal multi-course meal, and the two different things called kaiseki
- Food & DrinkStandard wagashi和菓子traditional Japanese sweets
- HistoryStandard national treasures and important cultural properties国宝と重要文化財how Japan designates what it protects
- HistoryStandard the tale of the heike平家物語the war tale about the fall of a clan, recited to the lute
- HistoryStandard manyoshu万葉集Japan's oldest surviving poetry collection
- Home & LivingStandard tokonoma床の間the alcove in a tatami room
- PlacesStandard Adachi Museum of Art足立美術館the Shimane museum whose garden is viewed like a painting, not walked in
- Pop CultureStandard karutaかるたthe card game where you race to grab the right card
- Pop CultureStandard Japanese film日本映画Japanese cinema, then and now
- Pop CultureStandard manzai漫才two-person stand-up comedy
Advanced（26）
- ArtsAdvanced iemoto家元the head of a school of a traditional art
- ArtsAdvanced gagaku雅楽the court music of Japan
- ArtsAdvanced gidayu義太夫the narrative chanting behind bunraku puppet theater
- ArtsAdvanced kodan講談storytelling of battles and heroes, told from behind a small desk
- ArtsAdvanced kodo香道the way of incense
- ArtsAdvanced shoin-zukuri書院造the room style that modern Japanese rooms come from
- ArtsAdvanced shinden-zukuri寝殿造the palace style of the Heian aristocracy
- ArtsAdvanced kumiodori組踊Okinawan musical theater, created for Chinese envoys
- ArtsAdvanced nihonga日本画painting in traditional Japanese materials
- ArtsAdvanced noh能the oldest surviving stage art in Japan
- ArtsAdvanced biwa琵琶the lute that carried Japan's war tales
- ArtsAdvanced bunraku文楽puppet theater with three operators to a puppet
- ArtsAdvanced Hojoki and Tsurezuregusa方丈記と徒然草the two other great Japanese essay collections
- ArtsAdvanced Makura no Soshi枕草子The Pillow Book
- BuddhismAdvanced mandala曼荼羅a diagram of the Buddhist universe used in esoteric ritual and meditation
- ConceptsAdvanced mono no awareもののあはれthe sadness of passing things
- ConceptsAdvanced ma間the meaningful gap
- ConceptsAdvanced shu ha ri守破離the three stages of learning a traditional art
- ConceptsAdvanced shoshin wasuru bekarazu初心忘るべからずnever forget how you began
- ConceptsAdvanced iki粋the understated stylishness of Edo townspeople
- ConceptsAdvanced yugen幽玄depth that is felt rather than shown
- HistoryAdvanced The Tale of Genji源氏物語an eleventh-century court novel
- Seasons & NatureAdvanced koke苔moss
- PlacesAdvanced Naoshima直島the small island in the Inland Sea turned into a contemporary art site
- Pop CultureAdvanced Takarazuka Revue宝塚歌劇団the all-female musical theater company
- ShintoAdvanced kagura神楽dance offered to the gods