Lexicon A to Z

For longer reading, our Insights start-here page groups the collector guides by subject, and the Lexicon journal shows the newest entries first.

A

  • A-2 jacket: The A-2 is the leather flight jacket adopted by the US Army Air Corps in 1931.
  • After-work: "After" before an artist's name means a copy of that artist's work by someone else, of any date.
  • Aloha shirt: The aloha shirt is the printed short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt, first made from Japanese cloth in Honolulu.
  • Amekaji: Amekaji, short for American casual, is Japan's careful reading of American clothing.
  • Anime cel: An anime cel is a painted transparent sheet from hand-drawn animation.

B

  • BE@RBRICK: BE@RBRICK is the bear-shaped figure Medicom Toy first released in Tokyo in 2001.
  • Boro: Boro are Japanese textiles mended and patched together, often over generations.
  • Box logo: The box logo is Supreme's red rectangle with white Futura Heavy Oblique lettering.
  • Byobu: A byobu is a Japanese folding screen of joined panels, painted or written on.

C

  • Celadon: Celadon is green-glazed ware, seiji in Japanese, first made in China and later in Korea and Japan.
  • Certificate of authenticity: A certificate of authenticity, or COA, is a document stating that an object is genuine.
  • Chenille: Chenille is a soft, tufted yarn, named after the French for caterpillar and best known on varsity jacket letters.
  • Chogokin: Chogokin is the die-cast metal robot toy line that Popy began with Mazinger Z and Bandai continues.
  • Cloisonné: Cloisonné is enamel fired in cells of metal wire.
  • Condition ranks: Japanese condition ranks run from N and S, unused, to C, heavily used.

D

  • Damier: Damier is the chequerboard canvas Louis Vuitton created in 1888.
  • Deadstock: Deadstock is merchandise withdrawn from sale and stored without ever reaching a customer.

E

G

  • G-1 jacket: The G-1 is the US Navy's leather flight jacket, begun as the M-422 in 1940 and still issued.
  • Gandhara: Gandhara was an ancient region where Buddhist art met Hellenistic forms, producing some of the first images of the Buddha.
  • Garage Kit: A garage kit is a figure or model kit made in small numbers, usually cast in resin.
  • Genga: Genga means an original drawing: in anime, the key animation drawing; in manga, the artist's own page.
  • Gilt bronze: Gilt bronze is bronze or copper coated with gold by fire gilding.

H

  • Hanten: A hanten is a short Japanese coat worn by townspeople from the Edo period.
  • Haori: A haori is the Japanese jacket worn over kimono, tied with cords at the front.
  • Horsehide: Horsehide is the equine leather of the A-2 flight jacket, the rider jacket and shell cordovan.

I

  • Inro: An inro is a small case of nested boxes, worn hanging from the sash with a netsuke and an ojime.

J

  • Jadeite: Jadeite is one of the two minerals called jade.

K

  • K18 gold: K18 is the Japanese mark for 18 karat gold, 75 per cent pure.
  • Kaiju: Kaiju, literally strange beast, is the Japanese giant monster of film and television.
  • Kaikai Kiki: Kaikai Kiki is the company Takashi Murakami built from his Hiropon Factory studio.
  • Kakejiku: A kakejiku is a Japanese hanging scroll for painting or calligraphy, mounted on silk so it can be rolled.
  • Karamono: Karamono are the Chinese objects Japan collected and ranked for a thousand years.
  • Kimono remake: Kimono remake is the making of new garments from old kimono, obi and haori cloth.
  • Kintsugi: Kintsugi is the Japanese art of mending broken ceramics with lacquer and gold.
  • Kogin: Kogin is the counted stitching of the Tsugaru region of Aomori, white cotton on indigo.
  • Kōro: A kōro is a Japanese incense burner, from the Chinese xianglu.

M

  • MA-1: The MA-1 is the nylon flight jacket developed in the 1950s for American jet crews.
  • Maki-e: Maki-e is Japanese lacquer decorated with gold or silver powder sprinkled onto wet lacquer.
  • Medusa: The Medusa on Versace is the Medusa Rondanini, a Roman marble now in Munich.
  • Monogram canvas: Monogram canvas is the Louis Vuitton pattern of 1896, its flowers drawn from the taste for Japanese crests.

N

  • Netsuke: A netsuke is the small carved toggle that once held a hanging case to the kimono sash.
  • Nose art: Nose art is the decorative painting on a military aircraft's nose, from shark mouths to pin-ups.

O

  • Offset Print: An offset print transfers ink from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to paper.
  • Ojime: An ojime is the small bead that slides on an inro's cords to hold its boxes shut.
  • Okimono: An okimono is a Japanese carving made for display rather than use.
  • Orb: The orb is Vivienne Westwood's emblem: the orb of the crown jewels circled by a satellite ring.
  • Original Sole: The Original Sole is the sculpted, melted-looking sole that Maison Mihara Yasuhiro began producing in 2019.

P

  • Partwork: A partwork is a series of magazine-like issues, often with parts that build into a model over time.
  • Pt900 platinum: Pt900 marks platinum that is 90 per cent pure, one of the standard grades for jewellery.

R

  • Reign mark: A reign mark names the Chinese emperor's era in which a piece was made, or claims to.

S

  • Sashiko: Sashiko, little stabs, is the Japanese running stitch used to strengthen and decorate cloth.
  • Selvedge denim: Selvedge denim is denim woven on a traditional shuttle loom with a self-finished edge.
  • Shunga: Shunga, pictures of spring, is the erotic art of Japan, mostly woodblock prints and illustrated books of the Edo period.
  • Silkscreen print: A silkscreen print is made by pushing ink through a stencilled mesh, one colour at a time.
  • Sofubi: Sofubi is Japanese soft vinyl, the material of vintage kaiju figures and of designer toys.
  • Sometsuke: Sometsuke is the Japanese name for blue and white, porcelain painted in cobalt under the glaze.
  • Sterling silver 925: Sterling silver is an alloy of 92.5 per cent silver, marked 925.
  • Sukajan: A sukajan is the embroidered satin souvenir jacket that began in postwar Yokosuka.
  • Superflat: Superflat is the art movement founded by Takashi Murakami, rooted in manga, anime and the flatness of Japanese art.
  • Sutajan: Sutajan, short for stadium jumper, is the Japanese name for the American varsity jacket.

T

  • Tabi: Tabi are the split-toe Japanese socks worn with thonged footwear.
  • Tenmoku: Tenmoku is the Japanese name for the dark-glazed tea bowls of Song China and the Japanese bowls made after them.
  • Tin toy: A tin toy is a mechanical toy made of lithographed tinplate.
  • Tokkofuku: Tokkofuku is the long, embroidered uniform of Japan's bosozoku biker gangs and later of yankii style.
  • Tokusatsu: Tokusatsu, special filming, is live-action Japanese film and television made with practical effects.

U

  • Ukiyo-e: Ukiyo-e, pictures of the floating world, is the Japanese woodblock print and painting genre of the Edo period.
  • Ura-Harajuku: Ura-Harajuku is the network of Harajuku back streets where Japanese streetwear grew in the 1990s.

W

  • Wagara: Wagara means Japanese pattern, from seigaiha waves to dragons and koi.

Y

  • Yankii: Yankii is Japanese slang for delinquent youth and their look.