| Japanese Term | Meaning |
| aisuki | bull nosed knife/chisel |
| ategami | thin waterproof paper sometimes placed on top of the print paper to protect it during impressions |
| bake | brush |
| baren | flat round disk used to rub the paper to transfer ink from a carved block |
| baren wata | cotton wool (wata) pad upon which the baren is laid between impressions and where it receives camellia oil |
| bijin | beautiful women (as subject for images); the corresponding genre is bijin-e |
| bokashi | graduated color |
| chu-ban | standard print size: half an oban sheet: about 25.5cm x 19cm (~ 10" x 7.5") |
| dosa | sizing |
| Edo | previous name for Tokyo; also, Japanese historical period: the Edo period ran from the ascension of Takugawa Ieyasu as Shogun in 1603 through 1867-68 |
| futa-iro-bokashi | two color gradation |
| gomo-zuri | grainy printing (gomo = sesame seed) |
| hanga bake | printing brush (has a handle) |
| hanshita | original line drawing |
| Heisei | historical period in Japan, 1989-present |
| hikitsuke (kento) | straight line kento |
| hira-to, hira-nomi | flat bladed knife/chisel |
| hon | real, genuine, as in hon-baren or hon-zuri = final edition printing as opposed to test printing |
| hori-dai | carving bench (bench hook) |
| iro-ban | woodblocks for printing color |
| ita-bokashi | graduated color created by carving a gradual slope into the block |
| kagi (kento) | right angle kento |
| kento | registration mark: kagi is the right angled kento, and hikitsuke is the straight line kento |
| kento-nomi | chisel designed for cutting kento |
| kentomi-zuri | test printing |
| kizuchi | wooden mallet |
| ko | strand, as in 16-ko (baren) |
| koban | paper size: one quarter of an oban, about 19cm x 13cm (~ 7.5" x 5") |
| komasuki | u-shaped knife (see also maru-nomi) |
| kozo | species of Mulberry who pulp is used for papermaking; other fibers used for paper are gampi (now scarce) and mitsumata (some paper uses more than one fiber type) |
| kuchi-e | woodblock printing genre consisting of illustrations for novels and literary magazines |
| kyogo | impression from the key block used to carve color blocks |
| lauan | very grainy wood used for printing blocks (not a Japanese term) |
| maru bake | round cornered handless brush (maru = circle) |
| maru-nomi | u-gouge (see also komasuki) |
| Meiji | period in Japanese history beginning with the restoration of the powers of the emperor in 1867-68 through his death in 1912 |
| minogami | thin paper used for pasting the original design and key block prints to wood blocks for carving (traditionally made in the Mino region) |
| mizu bake | water brush (mizu = water) |
| moku hanga | woodblock printing (moku = wood, hanga = print) |
| nomi | chisel |
| nuriwaki | applying different colors on separate areas of a block |
| oban | most common standard print size: about 38cm x 25.5cm (~ 15"x10") |
| pla | plastic, as in pla-baren |
| ryomen-zuri | printing on both sides of a sheet of paper |
| sakura | cherry wood (aka yamasakura) |
| sankaku-to | v-gouge |
| sengaki | outline drawing for the key block |
| shima | nonprinting islands left uncarved in the block to support the paper |
| shin hanga | literally "new print": 20th century movement to revitalize woodblock printing, c.1910-60 |
| shina | basswood |
| Showa | historical period in Japan, 1926-1989 (reign of Emperor Hirohito) |
| soai-nomi | bull nosed chisel (typically large) |
| sumi | black ink made from soot (carbon) |
| sumiban | key block |
| Taisho | historical period in Japan, 1912-1926 |
| takenokawa | bamboo leaf sheath used to cover a baren |
| tataki-zuri | inking block by tapping it with a cloth or brush, producing blotches |
| to | knife; also the angled blade knife used for outlining (aka hangi to, sho to) |
| tokibo | small brush used for transferring pigment to the block |
| tsubaki-abura | camellia oil |
| ukiyo-e | genre of Japanese wood block printing made from the late 17th century through the 19th century including such (now stereotypic) subjects as landscapes, buildings, actors, geishas and so on (literally, "pictures of the floating world") |
| washi | Japanese (wa) paper (shi) |
| yoko-e | print in which the paper is oriented with the longest dimension in the horizontal direction (i.e., landscape) |
| zokin-zuri | rag printing in which the inked block is wiped with a cloth |