Glossary of Japanese book terminology

Numerous specialist terms can be used when discussing the parts or elements of Japanese books, as well as genres of publishing, types or styles of bookbinding, and aspects of the publishing process.

• Baren 馬連 or 馬楝 - a small handheld lacquerware disc, covered in a thin slip of bamboo, use to impress paper into an inked woodblock
• Bukan 武鑑 - guides to samurai houses
• Chitsu 秩 - a stiff box in which books could be stored.
• Chûbon 中本 (lit. "medium books") - a common size of traditional Japanese books. Roughly half the size of ôhon.
• Detchôsô 粘葉装 - a style of bookbinding known as "butterfly binding." An accordion book (see orihon) which rather than being simply folded, has been pasted both to form a spine, and along the outer edge to avoid blank pages. Also known as kochôsô.
• Dôsa 礬水 - a sizing material made from alum and hide glue, often used to burnish book covers, offering some protection from dirt, water, and other damage
• Fascicle - a single bound volume. The English term "volume" can be ambiguous, often referring not to physical bound volumes, but to the way content is organized, akin to "chapters" or "parts." The term "fascicle" by contrast refers to the actual, physical, bound object, i.e. how many volumes (how many fascicles) a work is divided into, or how many are on a shelf.
• Fukurotoji 袋綴 (lit. "bag bound") - the most common traditional style of bookbinding. Pages are folded such that the fold becomes the outside edge of the page. Pages are then joined at the spine with paper screws called neji, and covers are sewn on with thread.
• Gajôsô 画帖装 - "album binding". A style of bookbinding in which folded pages are glued at the outer edges, without being pasted or otherwise joined together at the spine.
• Gampi 雁皮 - a type of paper
• Gedai 外題 ("outside title") - a title written on the outside front cover of a book, typically on a separate slip of paper glued onto the top left corner of the cover.
• Gôkan 合巻 - a type or format of illustrated serial novels, very popular in the 19th century
• Gyobi 魚尾 (lit. "fishtail") - the title of a book as written on the hashira.
• Gyôji - guild censors or licensing coordinators
• Hachimonjiyabon 八文字屋本 - a certain sub-genre of ukiyo-e books produced by the Hachimonji-ya publisher in Kyoto
• Hangi 版木 - a woodblock
• Hangiya 板木屋 - a blockcutter
• Hanmoto 版元 or 板元 - the owner of a set of woodblocks, and thus owner of the right to print new copies of the work. Often not indicated explicitly in the kanki, but most often is the publisher listed last (furthest to the left).
• Hanpon 版本 (lit. "printed books") - books printed by woodblock printing methods
• Hanshibon 半紙本 (lit. "half paper books") - a common size of traditional Japanese books, roughly 9x6 in.
• Hanshin 版心 (lit. "heart of the printing block") - see hashira.
• Hanshita 版下 - the guide drawing from which woodblocks were cut
• Hanshitagaki 版下書 - a copyist who created designs from which blockcutters (hangiya) made the woodblocks
• Hashira 柱 (lit. "pillar") - the outer edge of a page in a fukurotoji book, along the fold. Located at the center of each printed page, and then folded to become the outside edge, these often contain the title of the book, volume number, and page number. Also called hanshin.
• Jôshi 上梓 - to print, to publish
• Kabusebori 被せ彫り - a method of recreating woodblocks (or creating unlicensed copies) from a finished work, by using published pages as hanshita.
• Kaihan negai 改版願い - an application by a publisher to the censors, for permission to publish a given work
• Kaisen 界線 - black lines bordering the printed area. Absent in Chinese books, and in Japanese books emulating the appearance of Chinese books.
• Kanki 刊記 - the colophon; a page at the end of a book listing out publishing information including the names of the author, publisher(s), hanmoto, and sometimes of the illustrator, block-carver, and/or printer, as well as the year of the blockcutting, address(es) of the publisher(s), and/or other such information. Also called okutsuke.
• Kansubon 巻子本 - a "book" bound as a handscroll
• Kashihonya 貸本屋 - a booklender
• Katsuji 活字 - moveable type
• Kawaraban 瓦版 - a type of very cheap single-sheet prints, produced on cheap paper, often relating news or gossip
• Kentô 見当 - registration marks; small corner-shaped marks used to help ensure that paper and woodblock were lined up precisely for printing
• Kibyôshi 黄表紙 (lit. "yellow covers") - a type or format of illustrated popular literature books
• Kobon 小本 (lit. "small books") - a common size for traditional Japanese books. Roughly 6x5 inches.
• Kochôsô 胡蝶装 (lit. "butterfly binding") - see detchôsô.
• Kôzo 楮 - paper mulberry, or the paper made from it
• Kurokuchi 黒口 (lit. "black mouth" or "black box") - a small black square often found on the hashira.
• Makimono 巻物 - a scroll
• Mashi 麻紙 - hemp paper
• Masugatabon 桝形本 (lit. "square shape books") - a common traditional size of Japanese books. One-sixth the size of a full sheet of paper when closed, and square in dimensions. Also known as mutsuhanbon.
• Mitsumata 三俣 - a type of paper
• Mutsuhanbon 六半本 (lit. "one sixth books") - see masugatabon.
• Naidai 内題 ("inside title") - a title written on the inside of the front cover of a book. Does not always match the gedai ("outside title") found on the outside of the cover.
• Neji 螺子 - screws made of paper which are used to hold a fukurotoji book together at the spine.
• Ôbon 大本 (lit. "large books") - the largest of the standard sizes of traditional Japanese books. Roughly 10x7 in.
• Okutsuke 奥付 (lit. "attached in the back") - see kanki.
• Orihon 折本 - accordion books. Folded books, which can be unfolded one page at a time, or multiple pages at a time.
• Recto and verso - Latin terms commonly used to identify pages when they're not numbered in the modern fashion. Each physical page, i.e. each leaf, is numbered as "front" (recto) and "back" (verso). For example, where the first pages of a book might normally be numbered page 1, page 2, page 3, many Japanese books have only one number printed on each leaf. Thus, the pages might be referred to (cited) as 1 recto, 1 verso, 2 recto, and so forth. In Japanese, these are typically given as オ (o for omote, for "front" or verso) and ウ (u for ura, meaning "reverse" or verso).
• Retsujôsô 列帖装 - a traditional East Asian style of binding similar to Western modes. Pages are nestled inside one another to form packets or bundles; multiple packets or bundles are then tightly sewn together to form a rigid spine. Also known as tetchôsô and Yamato toji.
• Saga-bon 嵯峨本 - a short-lived style or type of art book, produced by Hon'ami Kôetsu c. 1590s-1600s, using wooden moveable type blocks.
• Sasshihon 冊子本 - a book bound as a book, i.e. in contrast to a scroll
• Shahon 写本 - a manuscript. A book or document that's been handwritten or handpainted, rather than printed.
• Sharebon 洒落本 - a category or type of humorous publications
• Shita-e 下絵 ("under drawing") - a mock-up or first draft
• Shorin nakama 書林仲間 - publishers' guilds
• Surimono 摺物 - a particular type of high-quality, luxury single-sheet woodblock prints
• Tetchôsô 綴葉装 - lit. "bound leaf binding". See retsujôsô.
• Utaibon 謡本 - books containing the text of Noh plays, for practicing or performing Noh chant (utai).
• Wabun 和文 - "Japanese writing". Text in a Japanese style, as opposed to kanbun (a form closely resembling classical Chinese).
• Wahon 和本 - a book bound in a traditional Japanese manner
• Yamato toji 大和綴 - lit. "Japanese binding." A style of binding invented in China. Not nearly as common in Japan as fukurotoji binding. See retsujôsô.
• Yokohon 横本 (lit. "horizontal books") - a standard size of traditional Japanese books. One-eighth the size of a full sheet of paper when closed, this was the most common size for books which were longer (i.e. wider) than they were high, resulting in a long horizontal form when open.
• Yomihon 読本 (lit. "reading books") - a type or format of books heavy on readable text (with interspersed illustrations).
• Yôsôbon 洋装本 - a book bound in the Western/modern manner
• Yotsuhanbon 四半本 (lit. "one quarter books") - perhaps the most common size of traditional Japanese books. When closed, the book was 1/4 the size of a standard sheet of paper.
• Yotsumetoji 四つ目綴じ - a fukurotoji book with four holes where the cover is sewn on. The most common style of fukurotoji book; less commonly, a cover might be sewn on with five or six holes.
• Zôhan 蔵版 - to possess woodblocks, i.e. copyright
• Zuihitsu 随筆 - collections of essays, or miscellaneous writings