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==Styles of Traditional Bookbinding==
==Styles of Traditional Bookbinding==
Books were traditionally bound in a variety of ways.
*The [[handscroll]] is perhaps the most traditional form of assembling sheets of paper (or silk) into a larger whole. Sheets or sections were arranged horizontally, pasted (or stitched, in the case of silk) to one another, end to end, and wrapped around a wooden dowel to form a scroll.
*Folding albums, called ''orihon'', are also called "accordion books." Sheets of paper, each folded vertically, are pasted together at the edges, forming a collection which can be opened either one page (one "opening") at a time, or, stretched out to reveal several openings at once.
*Butterfly binding (''detchôsô'' or ''kochôsô'') is somewhat similar to accordion binding, but involves pasting the pages together all at one end, forming a spine, such that the outer edges (at the left and right extreme of each opening) are individual and free.
*''Fukurotoji'' or ''yotsumetoji'' binding, also known as "stitch" or "pouch" binding, is perhaps the most common, and the most commonly associated with traditional Japanese books. Pages are folded such that the fold becomes the outside edge of the page; in other words, the left page of one opening, and the right page of the next opening, are two halves of the same sheet of paper - the outer edge of the page is in fact the fold between the two. This is known in Japanese as the ''hashira'' ("pillar") or ''hanshin'' ("heart of the printing block"), and often contains the title of the book, and the page number, printed right across the folded edge of what becomes the outer edge of a page of the book. The pages are then bound at their free-floating (non-folded) edges to form a spine, by poking holes through the pages and linking them with twisted pieces of paper called ''neji'', or "screws." These hold the pages together to form the book. Covers are then affixed with string, stitched in a distinctive pattern around, usually, four holes. Taller books sometimes have five holes instead of four, and books bound in this way in China during the reign of the [[Kangxi Emperor]] (r. [[1661]]-[[1722]]), have six. Those bound using a flat cord instead of silk thread are called by the term ''yamato-toji'' (lit. "Japanese binding").
Traditionally, book covers, particularly on ''fukurotoji'' books, were made of simple paper, or paper lining a somewhat thicker piece of card-board made from recycled paper. These outer covers were often burnished with a material called ''dôsa'', made from alum and hide glue, which provided some protection for the books; covers were also often embossed, printed, painted, or burnished with simple patterns. These patterns were, sometimes, used exclusively by a single publisher, thus marking the book as having been produced by that publishing house. A paper slip known as a ''gedai'' ("outside title"), affixed to the front cover, often gives the title of the book, along with other information, such as the volume number within a series.
Not strong enough to stand vertically on a shelf like Western bindings, Japanese books were always meant to be stored horizontally (laid out flat on the shelf), or, in a stiff box called a ''chitsu'', which then served the double purpose of also conveniently collecting multiple volumes together.
The inside of the front cover most often featured the title of the publication, in what is called a ''naidai'' ("inside title"), along with the name of the artist(s), author(s), and publisher. This information might, alternatively, be found on the first page of the book.
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