Hiroshige - Glossary


chuban	The smallest common print size; about 26cm x 19cm (10" x 7"). Chuban tateye - A chuban sized print in portrait (tateye) orientation. Chuban yokoye - A chuban sized print in landscape (yokoban) orientation.
daimyo	Great Lords - The warrior aristocracy of feudal Japan. Wikipedia
gauffrage
geisha	A Japanese girl whose profession is to entertain men by dancing and singing; loosely, a Japanese prostitute. Wikipedia
kago	A palanquin or sedan chair carried suspended from a pole by two bearers.
kamuro
koku	A Japanese unit of capacity equal to ten cubic shaku, used for vessels; equivalent to approximately 9.8 cubic feet (0.278 cubic metres).
komuso
mikado	The title of the emperor of Japan. It was usual for European writers to describe the Mikado as a 'spiritual' emperor, and the Shogun (who was the de facto ruler until 1867) as a second or 'temporal' emperor.
oban	The most common print size; about 38cm x 25cm (15" x 10"). Oban tateye - An oban sized print in portrait (tateye) orientation. Oban yokoye - An oban sized print in landscape (yokoban) orientation.
obi
palanquin	A covered litter or conveyance, usually for one person consisting of a large box with wooden shutters like Venetian blinds, carried by four or six (rarely two) men by means of poles projecting before and behind.
shinto	The native religious system of Japan, the central belief of which is that the mikado is the direct descendant of the sun-goddess and that implicit obedience is due to him. Wikipedia.
shinzo
shogun	The hereditary commander-in-chief of the Japanese army, until 1867 the virtual ruler of Japan. Also called tycoon. By successive usurpations of power, the Shogun or Tycoon had become the real ruler of Japan, though nominally the subject of the Mikado, and acting in his name. This state of things was misunderstood by Europeans, and it was erroneously supposed that there were two emperors in Japan, the Mikado (who was the object of a loyalty of the nature of religious devotion) being called 'the spiritual emperor', and the Shogun 'the temporal emperor'. In 1867, with the abolition of the feudal system, the Mikado assumed the actual sovereignty, and the reign of the Shoguns came to an end. Wikipedia
surimono
tateban	Also tat-e and tat-eye; portrait (i.e.vertical) orientation.
torii	A ceremonial gateway in front of a Japanese Shinto shrine, consisting of two uprights and two crosspieces of which the lower is straight and the upper usually curved and projecting. Wikipedia
tycoon	The title by which the shogun of Japan was described to foreigners. Wikipedia
ukiyoe	Wikipedia
urishi-e	Prints on which transparent lacquer or very thin glue was applied to heighten the colour effect.
yokoban	Also yok-e and yok-oye; landscape (i.e. horizontal) orientation.