Translation guide
A yearbook is a book published annually, typically by a school, containing photos and information about the students and activities of that year. In Japan, the closest equivalent is the 'sotsugyō arubamu' (graduation album), but the concept and cultural role differ from Western yearbooks.
The most common meaning: a book of photos and memories from a school year, especially for graduating students.
A book published once a year, such as a statistical yearbook or an almanac.
Japanese 卒業アルバム (graduation albums) are primarily photo collections distributed at graduation. They usually do not include the extensive handwritten messages, superlatives, or club activity summaries typical of American yearbooks. If you want to refer to the act of signing a yearbook, you might say 寄せ書きを書く (write a group message) or サインを書く (write a signature/message).
When speaking about your own school yearbook from abroad, you can use 卒業アルバム, but it may be helpful to explain the cultural differences. For example: 「私の国の卒業アルバムには、みんながメッセージを書き合うページがあるんです。」(In my country's yearbook, there's a page where everyone writes messages to each other.)
Literally 'graduation album'. This is the standard term for a photo book given to graduating students in Japan. It primarily contains individual and group photos, not the extensive personal messages and signatures found in Western yearbooks.
卒業アルバムを見て、懐かしい気持ちになった。
Looking at my graduation album made me feel nostalgic.
卒業アルバムに寄せ書きを書いた。
I wrote a message in the graduation album.
A more formal term meaning 'graduation commemorative photo collection'. Used occasionally but less common than 卒業アルバム.
卒業記念写真集を注文した。
I ordered a graduation commemorative photo collection.
General term for 'yearbook' or 'annual' in the sense of a reference book published yearly. Used for statistical yearbooks, industry yearbooks, etc.
統計年鑑でデータを調べた。
I looked up the data in the statistical yearbook.
この年鑑には世界中の国々の情報が載っている。
This yearbook contains information on countries around the world.
Loanword from English. Used for some specific publications or in contexts where the English term is preferred, but 年鑑 is more common for general reference works.
会社のイヤーブックが発行された。
The company's yearbook was published.