四つ目綴じの方法（How to bind a Japanese book with thread）

リクエスト企画第４弾です。四つ目綴じとは、その名の通り、四つの綴じ穴に糸を通して綴る、本の綴じ方の一つです。二つ折りにした紙を、折り目を左に（ページをめくる部分になり小口という）袋綴（ふくろとじ）の要領で重ね、右側（背という）を糸で綴る方法です。袋綴の上端と下端の少部分を除き、その残りの部分を三等分し、それぞれの位置に穴をあけて綴じています。中国明代に盛んに採用されたところから明朝綴じともいわれています。
江戸時代に一般化した袋綴じも、中国や朝鮮の影響を受けたものと考えられています。その綴じ方には、日本に多い四つ目綴じ（明朝とじ、中国では四針眼訂法とも）、朝鮮本に多い五つ目綴じ（中国では五針眼訂法）の他にもいくつかのパターンがありますので、今後も紹介していきます。
This is the fourth request project. Yotsume Binding is, as the name implies, a method of binding a book in which thread is threaded through the four binding holes. The two folded sheets of paper are stacked in the manner of Fukuro-binding, with the fold to the left (called the small end of the page), and the right side (called the spine) is bound with thread. The remaining part of the binding is divided into three equal parts, except for a small portion at the top and bottom, and a hole is punched at each position to bind them together. It is also called Ming Dynasty binding because it was widely used in the Ming Dynasty of China.
Fukuro-binding, which became popular in the Edo period (1603-1867), is also thought to have been influenced by Chinese and Korean traditions. There are several other binding patterns besides the four-position binding (Ming-cho binding) that is common in Japan and the five-position binding that is common in Korean books, which we will continue to introduce in the future.