karajishi

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 唐獅子.

Noun

karajishi (plural karajishi)

1. A guardian lion figure found in Chinese and Japanese art.
   • 2009 September 25, Roberta Smith, “In Chelsea, a Chapter in Abstract Art and Some Long Verse”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Titled “Picture of Fate: I Am but a Fisherman Who Angles in the Darkness of His Mind,” the Murakami is dominated by the exotic karajishi, or “China-lion,” who guards the threshold of Japanese Buddhist temples and is a frequent subject of Chinese and Japanese artists.