In modern Japan, though, it is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a single manga, as opposed to magazines.
JAPANESE TO ENGLISH DICTIONARY SERIES
tankōbon 単行本, "independent/standalone book" term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series or corpus. tanka 短歌, "short poetry" an older form of Japanese poetry than haiku, of the form 5-7-5-7-7 morae (not syllables see also haiku above). sumi-e 墨絵, a general term for painting with a brush and black ink. shamisen 三味線, a three-stringed musical instrument, played with a plectrum. senryu 川柳, a form of short poetry similar to haiku. noh 能 nō, a major form of classical Japanese music drama origami 折り紙, artistic paper folding otaku オタク or おたく or ヲタク, a geeky enthusiast, especially of anime and manga.