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==Styles of Traditional Bookbinding==

==Styles of Traditional Bookbinding==

*The [[handscroll]] (J: 巻子本 ''kansubon'' or 巻物 ''makimono'') 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. Scrolls have the disadvantage over other forms of books (J: 冊子本, ''sasshibon'') of it being difficult to skim or skip forward to certain sections; whereas with a book one can simply flip the book open to a later section, a scroll has to be scrolled through from the beginning, a lengthy process. For this reason, along with the older history of the form (i.e. it being an older, more traditional form), and the association of scrolls as the format of imported Buddhist knowledge, scrolls came to often be the choice format for prestigious gifts, and treasures, to be kept and preserved, but not necessarily to be regularly opened or read.

*The [[handscroll]] (''kansubon'' 巻子本 or ''makimono'' 巻物) 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. Scrolls have the advantage over other forms of books (''sasshihon'' 冊子本) that they can be easily lengthened or shortened. One can cut nearly anywhere within a scroll, and insert or remove sections, while in a book, the nature of front and back (''recto'' and ''verso'') sides of a page, among other elements, makes this difficult. Scrolls have the disadvantage, however, of it being difficult to skim or skip forward to certain sections; whereas with a book one can simply flip the book open to a later section, a scroll has to be scrolled through from the beginning, a lengthy process. For this reason, along with the older history of the form (i.e. it being an older, more traditional form), and the association of scrolls as the format of imported Buddhist knowledge, scrolls came to often be the choice format for prestigious gifts, and treasures, to be kept and preserved, but not necessarily to be regularly opened or read.

*Folding albums, called ''orihon'' (折本), are also called "accordion books." Sheets of paper are pasted together as in a scroll, and then folded to form a collection which can be opened either one page (one "opening") at a time, or, stretched out to reveal several openings at once. In the medieval period, it became common for readers to fold scrolls as they read them, essentially turning them into ''orihon'' if they were left folded rather than being re-rolled.

*Folding albums, called ''orihon'' (折本), are also called "accordion books." Sheets of paper are pasted together as in a scroll, and then folded to form a collection which can be opened either one page (one "opening") at a time, or, stretched out to reveal several openings at once. In the medieval period, it became common for readers to fold scrolls as they read them, essentially turning them into ''orihon'' if they were left folded rather than being re-rolled.

*''Retsujôsô'' (列帖装) or ''tetchôsô'' (綴葉装) binding, also known ironically as ''yamato toji'' (大和綴, lit. "Japanese binding") binding, is the closest of the traditional East Asian forms to standard Western modes of bookbinding. Like many other forms of Japanese bookbinding, it was invented in China. This form of binding involves nestling the folded leaves of paper into one another to form a series of packets or bundles, which are then sewn together to form a hard spine.

*''Retsujôsô'' (列帖装) or ''tetchôsô'' (綴葉装) binding, also known ironically as ''yamato toji'' (大和綴, lit. "Japanese binding") binding, is the closest of the traditional East Asian forms to standard Western modes of bookbinding. Like many other forms of Japanese bookbinding, it was invented in China. This form of binding involves nestling the folded leaves of paper into one another to form a series of packets or bundles, which are then sewn together to form a hard spine.

While each mode of binding certainly waxed and waned over the centuries, few if any ever died out, to be replaced by newer formats. Rather, different formats continued to be used for different purposes; even today, with "modern" Western-style binding dominating, ''yotsumetoji'' and other forms of traditionally-bound ''wahon'' continue to be produced. One reason older forms are maintained is because particular types of texts are strongly associated with that form, or simply because the older forms feel more traditional, giving the sense of greater historicity, prestige, or sacredness. In some cases, the time period and form in which a given type of text first entered Japan cemented the text's association with that particular format. Scrolls continued to be the dominant form for many Buddhist texts, especially [[sutras]], for hundreds of years, in part because they first entered Japan in this form. By contrast, many [[Confucian classics|Confucian]] texts, including [[Neo-Confucianism|Neo-Confucian]] texts first introduced to Japan during the [[Song dynasty]] in the form of bound books, continued to be associated with the book format, and to be reproduced in such a format.

 

While each mode of binding certainly waxed and waned over the centuries, few if any ever died out, to be replaced by newer formats. Rather, different formats continued to be used for different purposes; even today, with "modern" Western-style binding dominating, ''yotsumetoji'' and other forms of traditionally-bound ''wahon'' continue to be produced. One reason older forms are maintained is because particular types of texts are strongly associated with that form, or simply because the older forms feel more traditional, giving the sense of greater historicity, prestige, or sacredness. In some cases, the time period and form in which a given type of text first entered Japan cemented the text's association with that particular format. Scrolls continued to be the dominant form for many Buddhist texts, especially [[sutras]], for hundreds of years, in part because they first entered Japan in this form. By contrast, many [[Confucian classics|Confucian]] texts, including [[Neo-Confucianism|Neo-Confucian]] texts first introduced to Japan during the [[Song dynasty]] in the form of bound books, continued to be associated with the book format, and to be reproduced in such a format. Scrolls also came to be associated in the [[Heian period]] with poetry collections, while books came to be associated with ''monogatari'' (tales), personal diaries (''nikki''), and assorted writings (''zuihitsu'').

==Elements of a Book==

==Elements of a Book==