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.
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.
Looking at my graduation album made me feel nostalgic.
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.
I ordered a graduation commemorative photo collection.
A book published once a year, such as a statistical yearbook or an almanac.
General term for 'yearbook' or 'annual' in the sense of a reference book published yearly. Used for statistical yearbooks, industry yearbooks, etc.
I looked up the data in the statistical yearbook.
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.
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.)
This yearbook contains information on countries around the world.
The company's yearbook was published.