Bunkobon
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In Japan, bunkobon (文庫本) are small-format paperback books, designed to be affordable and space saving.
The great majority of bunkobon are A6 (105×148mm or 4.1"×5.8") in size. They are sometimes illustrated and like other Japanese paperbacks usually have a dust wrapper over a plain cover. They are used for similar purposes as Western mass market paperbacks: generally for cheaper editions of books which have already been published as hardbacks.[1] However, they are typically printed on durable paper and durably bound, and some works are initially published in bunkobon format.
The bunkobon format began to flourish during the 1920s, following the development of printing technology able to mass-produce cheap books and magazines. During this period, the Japanese industry developed the bunkobon format based on German Reclam’s Universal-Bibliothek book formats.[2]
See also
- Japanese books
- Tankōbon – Many manga are reprinted in bunkoban (or "bunko edition") format.
- Reclam – German publishing house. Their "universal library" (Universal-Bibliothek) series was a model for Iwanami Bunko started in 1927.
References
- ^ Bourdaghs, Michael K.; Sakai, Cécile; Hirokazu, Toeda (2018-01-02). "Introduction: Kawabata Yasunari in the twenty-first century". Japan Forum. 30 (1): 2–11. doi:10.1080/09555803.2017.1307249. ISSN 0955-5803.
- ^ Kamei-Dyche, Andrew T. (2011). "The History of Books and Print Culture in Japan: The State of the Discipline". Book History. 14 (1): 270–304. doi:10.1353/bh.2011.0008. ISSN 1529-1499.
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