Glossary of Japanese Screen-Related Terms
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- Byobu / Biombo (屏風) - A Japanese Folding Screen
- Fusuma (襖) - Sliding doors or room dividers, made of paper with a wooden frame, often painted in a similar manner to Byobu.
- Gin / Kin (銀/金）- Silver / Gold. The main metals used in the leaf which forms the backing of a screen.
Common types of leaf are:
- Jun Kinpaku (純金箔）- Pure gold leaf; has a bright luster but darkens slightly over time.
- Odo Kinpaku (黄銅金箔）- Gold and brass leaf; stronger against corrosion than pure gold, but a little darker.
- Ginji (銀地）- Silver leaf; prized in art circles for its beauty; somewhat susceptible to oxidation over time.
- Yaki Gin (焼銀）- Silver leaf treated at high temperature to protect from oxidation.
- Mokumekin (木目金）- Gold leaf overlaid with 2 sheets of shantung silk. Gives the surface a special gloss.
- Kano School (狩野派) - A style of Japanese painting filled with colour, developed during the Muromachi period (16th Century).
- Rinpa School (琳派) - A decorative style of Japanese painting with a high degree of realism, always based on subjects from nature.
- Shantung - A kind of silk originating in China, sometimes used over gold leaf as the background of a screen
- Sumi (墨) - An ink stick; a compressed mixture of vegetable soot and glue, which is ground with water on an ink stone to produce liquid ink. Used in Japanese calligraphy, and also for a style of painting screens, particularly scenery.
- Sumi-e / Suiboku-ga (墨絵 / 水墨画) - The style of painting using only black Sumi ink
- Tsuitate (衝立) - A 1-panel screen with legs to stand up
- Washi (和紙) - Japanese paper, made by hand from tree bark, and used to cover the wooden frame of Byobu screens as a base for the gold leaf and painting (also known as Torinoko (鳥の子))
