'Japan black' definitions:

Definition of 'Japan black'

From: GCIDE
  • Japan \Ja*pan"\, a. Of or pertaining to Japan, or to the lacquered work of that country; as, Japan ware. [1913 Webster]
  • Japan allspice (Bot.), a spiny shrub from Japan (Chimonanthus fragrans), related to the Carolina allspice.
  • Japan black (Chem.), a quickly drying black lacquer or varnish, consisting essentially of asphaltum dissolved in naphtha or turpentine, and used for coating ironwork; -- called also Brunswick black, Japan lacquer, or simply Japan.
  • Japan camphor, ordinary camphor brought from China or Japan, as distinguished from the rare variety called borneol or Borneo camphor.
  • Japan clover, or Japan pea (Bot.), a cloverlike plant (Lespedeza striata) from Eastern Asia, useful for fodder, first noticed in the Southern United States about
  • 1860, but now become very common. During the Civil War it was called variously Yankee clover and Rebel clover.
  • Japan earth. See Catechu.
  • Japan ink, a kind of writing ink, of a deep, glossy black when dry.
  • Japan varnish, a varnish prepared from the milky juice of the Rhus vernix, a small Japanese tree related to the poison sumac. [1913 Webster]