Help:Japanese book word glossary

This is a glossary of Japanese book-related words and their English equivalents. They are listed in Japanese gojūon order. There are often multiple words for the same thing, so use the search function to find all of them.

あ

• 愛蔵版 (あいぞうばん, aizōban) – collector's edition

い

• 異世界 (いせかい, isekai) – alternate universe; parallel universe; alternate dimension; other world; alternate world;
• イラスト (irasuto) – illustration; sometimes used to indicate the artist who did the illustrations; see also 絵 and 画;

え

• 絵 (え, e) – picture; often used to indicate the artist who did the illustrations; see also 画 and イラスト;
• エスエフ (esuefu) – science fiction; sometimes also SF;

か

• 怪談物 (かいだんもの, kaidan mono) – ghost story; scary story; horror story; see also 恐怖物語;
• 硬表紙 (かたびょうし, katabyōshi) – hard cover; stiff cover (including semi-hard covers);
• カバーイラスト (kabā irasuto) – cover illustration; see also 表紙;
• 画 (が, ga) – picture; illustration; often used to indicate the artist who did the illustrations; see also 絵 and イラスト;

き

• 恐怖物語 (きょうふものがたり, kyōfu monogatari) – scary story; horror story; sometimes abbreviated to 恐怖物 or simply 恐怖; see also 怪談物;

く

• 口絵 (くちえ, kuchie) – frontispiece;

け

• 原作者 (げんさくしゃ, gensakusha) – original creator; original author; often means "based on [the work of this] author; used to indicate someone who originally created the world or universe of a story, but does not indicate the author; Sometimes indicated with only 原作;
• 幻想 (げんそう, gensō) – fantasy;

こ

• 告知用 (こくちよう, kokuchiyō) – (used for) announcement; (used for) advertisement;
• 号 (ごう, gō) – number; issue;

さ

• 作者 (さくしゃ, sakusha) – author;

し

• 辞書 (じしょ, jisho) – dictionary;
• 辞典 or 事典 (じてん, jiten) – dictionary;
• 事典 (じてん or ことてん, jiten or kototen) – encyclopedia;
• 者 (しゃ, sha) – author;
• 小説 (しょうせつ, shōsetsu) – novel;

そ

• 外箱 (そとばこ, sotobako) – slipcase;
• 外函 (そとばこ, sotobako) – slipcase;

た

• 大百科 (たいひゃっか, daihyakka) – encyclopedia
• 単行本 (たんこうぼん, tankōbon) – volume; single volume; standalone volume; sometimes used to indicate a hardcover edition;

ち

• 著者 (ちょしゃ, chosha) – author;

の

• ノベル (noberu) – novel;

は

• パラレルワールド or パラレル・ワールド (parareru wārudo) – parallel world; parallel universe;

ひ

• 百科事典 or 百科辞典 (ひゃっかじてん, hyakka jiten) – encyclopedia
• 百科全書 (ひゃっかぜんしょ, hyakka zensho) – encyclopedia
• 表紙 (ひょうし, hyōshi) – cover (of a book/magazine); often used to credit the cover artist in magazines and books;
• 表紙画 (ひょうしが, hyōshiga) – cover image/illustration/picture (of a book/magazine); often used to credit the cover artist in magazines and books;

ふ

• ファンタジー (fantajī) – fantasy;
• 文庫判 (ぶんこばん, bunkoban) – pocket-sized paperback;
• 文庫版 (ぶんこばん, bunkoban) – paperback edition;

へ

• 並行世界 (へいこうせかい, heikō sekai) – parallel world; parallel universe;

ほ

• ホラー (horā) – horror;

ま

• 漫画 (まんが, manga) – comics; Japanese comics;

も

• モノクローム (monokurōmu) – monochrome;

ら

• ライトノベル or ライト・ノベル (raito noberu) – light novel; pulp novel;
• ライノベ (rainobe) – abbreviation for light novel; pulp novel;
• ラノベ (ranobe) – abbreviation for light novel; pulp novel;