Tankōbon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series, though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series. It can be used for a novel, a nonfiction work, an economics textbook, a book of beauty tips, a book presenting a coherent set of photographs, an exhibition catalog that samples earlier books, and so forth in a hardcover format. It is more specific than plain hon, which encompasses such books but also one or more issues of a periodical, one or more volumes (or the whole set) of an encyclopedia, etc. Tankōbon do not include bunkobon (typically used for novels), shinsho (, typically used for non-fiction), or rather larger-format mook (, mukku, a blend of "magazine" and "book"), as each is within a series.