noun
Japanese book size (approx. 12.5cm × 17.5cm)
A traditional book format roughly half the size of 半紙 (hanshi). The name comes from the resemblance to a slab of konjac (こんにゃく).
See also: 半紙 (はんし)
江戸時代の洒落本は、蒟蒻本と呼ばれる小さな判型で出版された。
Edo-period sharebon were published in a small format called konnyakubon.
noun
late Edo-period novelette about the red-light district
By extension, refers to the genre of short, often humorous stories (洒落本) printed in this small format, depicting life in the pleasure quarters.
See also: 洒落本
この蒟蒻本は、吉原の遊女と客のやりとりを軽妙に描いている。
This konnyakubon wittily depicts exchanges between courtesans and customers in Yoshiwara.
洒落本 is the broader genre of witty Edo-period stories about the pleasure quarters; 蒟蒻本 can refer to the physical book format or, by extension, the same genre.
From 蒟蒻 (konnyaku, 'konjac') + 本 (hon, 'book'), so called because the small, thick book shape resembles a slab of konjac.