Japanese dictionary

 have a history that began over 1300 years ago when Japanese Buddhist priests, who wanted to understand Chinese sutras, adapted Chinese character dictionaries. Present-day Japanese lexicographers are exploring computerized editing and electronic dictionaries. According to Nakao Keisuke ():
It has often been said that dictionary publishing in Japan is active and prosperous, that Japanese people are well provided for with reference tools, and that lexicography here, in practice as well as in research, has produced a number of valuable reference books together with voluminous academic studies. (1998:35)
After introducing some Japanese "dictionary" words, this article will discuss early and modern Japanese dictionaries, demarcated at the 1603 CE lexicographical sea-change from "Nippo Jisho", the first bilingual Japanese–Portuguese dictionary. "Early" here will refer to lexicography during the Heian, Kamakura, and Muromachi periods (794–1573); and "modern" to Japanese dictionaries from the Edo or Tokugawa era (1603–1867) through the present.
Lexicographical terminology.
First, it will be useful to introduce some key Japanese terms for dictionaries and collation (ordering of entry words) that the following discussion will be using.
The Wiktionary uses English "" to define a few synonyms including , , , , and . It also uses "dictionary" to translate six Japanese words.
The first three homophonous "jiten" compounds of "ten" ( "reference work; dictionary; classic; canon; model") are Chinese loanwords. However, Chinese distinguishes their pronunciations, avoiding the potential ambiguities of Sino-Japanese "jiten": "cídiǎn" "word dictionary", "zìdiǎn" "character dictionary", or "encyclopedia". The usual Japanese word for "encyclopedia" is "hyakka jiten" ( "100/many subject dictionary", see Japanese encyclopedias). The "jiten", "jisho", and "jibiki" terms for dictionaries of "kanji" "Chinese characters" share the element "ji" ( "character; graph; letter; script; writing").
Lexicographical collation is straightforward for romanized languages, and most dictionaries enter words in alphabetical order. In contrast, the Japanese writing system, with "kanji", "hiragana", and "katakana", creates complications for dictionary ordering. University of Arizona professor Don C. Bailey (1960:4) discusses how Japanese lexicography differentiates semantic, graphic, and phonetic collation methods, namely:
In general, "jikeibiki" organization is for a readers' dictionary, "bunruitai" for a writers' dictionary, and "onbiki" for both types.
The Japanese writing system originated with the introduction of Chinese characters around the 4th century CE, and early Japanese dictionaries developed from Chinese dictionaries circa the 7th century CE. These three Japanese collation systems were borrowed and adapted from Chinese character dictionaries.
The first, and oldest, Chinese system of collation by semantic field (for instance, "birds" or "fish") dates back to the ca. 3rd century BCE "Erya" (). Only a few dictionaries like the "Xiao Erya" () , "Guangya" () , and "Piya" () used semantic collation. This system is inefficient looking up a word unless the dictionary user already knows its meaning; imagine, for example, using Roget's Thesaurus without an alphabetical index. "Bunruitai" collation is obsolete among modern Japanese dictionaries, with the exception of thesauri.
The second system of dictionary collation by radicals (Chinese "bushou", Japanese "bushu", "section headers") originated with the 121 CE "Shuowen Jiezi" () . Japanese dictionaries followed the Chinese example of reducing the number of radicals: original 540 ("Shuowen Jiezi"), adjusted 542 ("Yupian" () ), condensed 214 ("Zihui" () , "Kangxi Zidian" () ), and abridged 189 ("Xinhua Zidian" ()). Japanese "jikeibiki" collation by radical and stroke ordering is standard for character dictionaries, and does not require a user to know the meaning or pronunciation beforehand.
The third Chinese system of ordering by pronunciation is evident in a rime dictionary, which collates the characters by tone and rime. The 601 CE "Qieyun" () is the oldest extant Chinese dictionary collated by pronunciation, and was expanded in the "Guangyun" () and "Jiyun" () . The shortcoming of this unwieldy tone-rime method is that a user needs to know, or guess, the pronunciation of a character in order to look it up. The modern Chinese dictionary improvement is alphabetical collation by "pinyin" romanization. Japanese "onbiki" dictionaries historically changed from poetic "iroha" to practical "gojūon" ordering around 1890. Compare the former pangram poem ("i-ro-ha-ni-ho-he-to, chi-ri-nu-ru-wo", … "Although flowers glow with color, They are quickly fallen, …) with the latter "fifty sounds" 10 consonants by 5 vowels grid ("a-i-u-e-o, ka-ki-ku-ke-ko", …).
Early Japanese lexicography.
The first Japanese dictionaries are no longer extant and only known by titles. For example, the "Nihon Shoki" (tr. Aston 1896:354) says Emperor Tenmu was presented a dictionary in 682 CE, the "Niina" (, "New Characters") with 44 fascicles ("kan" ). The earliest dictionaries made in Japan were not for the Japanese language but rather dictionaries of Chinese characters written in Chinese and annotated in Japanese.
Japanese lexicography flowered during the Heian Period, when Chinese culture and Buddhism began to spread throughout Japan. During the Kamakura and Muromachi eras, despite advances in woodblock printing technology, there was a decline in lexicography that Bailey (1960:22) describes as "a tendency toward simplification and popularization".
The following review of the first published Japanese dictionaries is divided into the above lexicographical "jikeibiki", "bunruitai", and "onbiki" types.
Graphically organized dictionaries.
"Jikeibiki" graphic collation began with the oldest extant Japanese dictionary: the circa 835 CE "Tenrei Banshō Meigi" (), edited by the Heian monk and scholar Kūkai. It enters approximately 1,000 characters under 534 radicals, and each entry gives the seal script character, Chinese fanqie reading, and definition (usually copied from the "Yupian"), but does not give native kun'yomi Japanese readings.
The first dictionary containing Japanese readings of "kanji" was the circa 900 "Shinsen Jikyō" (), which the editor Shōjū () compiled from the "Yupian" and "Qieyun". It enters 21,300 characters, giving both Chinese and Sino-Japanese readings, and cites many early Japanese texts. Internal organization innovatively combines "jikeibiki" and "bunruitai" methods; a simplified system of 160 radicals is ordered semantically (e.g., 5-7 are Rain, Air, and Wind).
The circa 1100 Buddhist "Ruiju Myōgishō" () dictionary lists over 32,000 characters and compounds under 120 radicals. The structure and definitions closely follow the Chinese "Yupian" and "Qieyun". This Heian reference work gives both Sino-Japanese and Japanese readings for "kanji", usually with Kanbun annotations in citations from Chinese classic texts.
The circa 1245 "Jikyōshū" () collates Chinese characters primarily by the 542 "Yupian" radicals and secondarily by semantic headings adapted from the "Iroha Jiruishō". This Kamakura dictionary, edited by Sugawara no Tamenaga (), exists in 3, 7, and 20 fascicle editions that have convoluted textual histories.
The next "jikeibiki" collated dictionary of "kanji" was the circa 1489 "Wagokuhen" (). This "Japanese "Yupian"" was based on the Chinese "Yupian", actually the 1013 "Daguang yihui Yupian" (, "Expanded and Enlarged "Yupian""), which was current in Muromachi Japan. The "Wagokuhen" went through dozens of editions, which collate entries through various systems of (from 100 to 542) radicals, without any overt semantic subdivisions.
Two historical aspects of these logographically arranged Japanese "jikeibiki" dictionaries are reducing the number of radicals and semantically ordering them. The radical systems ranged from 542 (the "Yupian"), 534, 160, 120, down to 100. Both the "Shinsen Jikyō" and "Jikyōshū" refined logographic categorization with "bunruitai"-type arrangements. While Chinese dictionaries have occasional examples of semantically ordered radicals (for instance, Kangxi radicals 38 and 39 are Woman and Child), Japanese lexicography restructured radicals into more easily memorable sequences.
Semantically organized dictionaries.
Japanese "bunruitai" semantic collation of dictionaries began with the 938 CE "Wamyō Ruijushō" (), compiled by Minamoto no Shitagō (). This Heian dictionary adapts the ancient Chinese "Erya" dictionary's 19 semantic categories into 24 Japanese headings with subheadings. For instance, Heaven and Earth is subdivided into Stars and Constellations, Clouds and Rain, Wind and Snow, etc.
The character entries give source citations, Chinese pronunciations, definitions, and Japanese readings in the ancient "Man'yōgana" character system.
The circa 1444 "Kagakushū" () was an anonymous Muromachi era Japanese language dictionary or encyclopedia that defined some 3000 words into 18 semantic categories. It was designed for the literate public rather than for priests and literati, and was reissued many times.
Phonetically organized dictionaries.
Japanese "onbiki" phonetic collation began during the late Heian Period. The circa 1144–1165 CE "Iroha Jiruishō" () was the first dictionary to group entries in the "iroha" order. Words are entered by 47 first "kana" syllables, each subdivided into 21 semantic groups.
The circa 1468 "Setsuyōshū" () was a popular Muromachi dictionary collated in "iroha" order and subdivided into 12 (later 13) semantic categories. It defined current Japanese vocabulary rather than borrowed Sino-Japanese compounds, and went through many editions and reprints.
The 1484 "Onkochishinsho" () was the first Japanese dictionary to collate words in "gojūon" rather than conventional "iroha" order. This Muromachi reference work enters about 13,000 words, first by pronunciation and then by 12 subject classifications.
All three of these "onbiki" dictionaries adapted the "bunruitai" method to collate primarily by first syllable and secondarily by semantic field. This is comparatively less efficient than modern Japanese dictionaries with single-sorting "gojūon" collation by first syllable, second syllable, etc.
Modern Japanese lexicography.
The development of early Japanese lexicography from Chinese–Japanese dictionaries has cross-linguistic parallels, for instance, early English language lexicography developed from Latin–English dictionaries. Nonetheless, modern Japanese lexicography adapted to an unparalleled second foreign wave from Western language dictionaries and romanization.
During the Nanban trade Period (1543–1650 CE) when Japan was opened to Europeans, the Jesuit Mission Press published two groundbreaking dictionaries. The 1598 monolingual "Rakuyōshū" (, "Collection of Fallen Leaves") gave Sino-Japanese and native Japanese readings of characters, and introduced the small raised circle ("handakuten" ) to indicate the "p" sound (compare "ha" and "pa" ). The 1603–1604 bilingual Japanese-Portuguese "Nippo Jisho" or "Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam" dictionary is still cited as an authority for early Japanese pronunciation. The year 1604 was at the beginning of the Edo Period and also, as Nakao (1998:37) points out, the date of the first monolingual English dictionary, the Table Alphabeticall.
During the Sakoku Period (1641–1853) when Japan was closed to foreigners, with the exception of the Dutch East India Company, "Rangaku" ("Dutch/Western learning") influenced Japanese lexicography through bilingual Japanese and Dutch dictionaries. Another notable publication was the 1712 "Wakan Sansai Zue" () encyclopedia, which was based on the 1609 Chinese "Sancai Tuhui" ().
Japanese language dictionaries.
"Kokugo jiten/jisho" (/ "national language dictionary") means "Japanese–Japanese dictionary, monolingual Japanese dictionary". This "national language" term "kokugo", which Chinese borrowed as "guoyu", usually refers to the Japanese language as taught in Japanese schools. "Nihongo jisho" ( "Japanese language dictionary") is a neologism that contrasts Japanese with other world languages. There are hundreds of "kokugo" dictionaries in print, ranging from huge multivolume tomes to paperback abridgments. According to Japanese translator Tom Gally (1999:n.p.), "While all have shortcomings, the best "kokugo" dictionaries are probably among the best reference works in existence in any language."
The Edo "Kokugaku" scholar Tanikawa Kotosuga (, 1709–1776) began compilation of the first full-scale Japanese language dictionary, the "Wakun no Shiori" or "Wakunkan" ( "Guidebook to Japanese Pronunciations"). This influential 9-volume dictionary of classical Japanese words was posthumously completed and finally published in 1887.
The first truly modern Japanese language dictionary was edited by the grammarian and English translator Ōtsuki Fumihiko (), who used "Webster's Dictionary" as the model for his pioneering "Genkai" ( "Sea of Words", 1889–1891). His revised 5-volume "Daigenkai" ( "Great/Comprehensive Sea of Words", Fuzambō, 1932–1937) dictionary continues to be cited for its definitions and etymologies.
The "Dainihon Kokugo Jiten" (, Fuzambō, 1915–1919), edited by Matsui Kanji (), contains 220,000 headwords, with detailed interpretations and almost complete source material.
The "Daijiten" ( "Great/Comprehensive Dictionary", Heibonsha 1934–1936), edited by Shimonaka Yasaburō (), is the largest "kokugo" dictionary ever published. The original 26-volume edition, which is still available in condensed versions, entered over 700,000 headwords, listed by pronunciation, and covered a wide variety of Japanese vocabulary.
The "Nihon Kokugo Daijiten" (, Shogakukan, 1972–1976, 2nd ed. 2000–2002) is the successor to the "Dainihon Kokugo Jiten". Matsui Shigekazu (), who led the compilation of the dictionary, is the grandson of Matsui Kanji. This multivolume historical dictionary enters about 500,000 headwords, and is currently the most complete reference work for the Japanese language.
The bestselling "kokugo" titles are practical 1-volume dictionaries rather than encyclopedic works like the "Nihon Kokugo Daijiten". For present purposes, they are divided between large-size dictionaries that enter 100,000–200,000 headwords on 2000–3000 pages and medium-size ones with 60,000–100,000 on 1300–1500 pages. The following discussion will introduce the central "kokugo" dictionaries, excepting the numerous smallest editions.
Larger single-volume Japanese language dictionaries are a highly profitable and competitive market for Japanese publishing houses.
The hefty scale of these larger dictionaries provides comprehensive coverage of Japanese words, but also renders them cumbersome and unwieldy.
Medium single-volume dictionaries have comparative advantages in portability, usability, and price.
Some Japanese publishers sell both a larger dictionary with more archaisms and classical citations as well as a smaller condensation with more modern examples, for instance, Shogakukan's "Daijisen" and "Gendai Kokugo Reikai Jiten".
Chinese character dictionaries.
"Kan-Wa jiten" ( ""Kan"["ji"] Chinese [character]-"Wa" Japanese dictionary") means "Japanese dictionary of "kanji" (Chinese characters)". This unique type of monolingual dictionary enters Japanese borrowings of "kanji" and multi-character compounds ("jukugo" ), but is not a bilingual Chinese–Japanese dictionary. A "Kan–Wa" dictionary headword ("oyaji" "parent character") entry typically gives variant graphic forms, graphic etymology, readings, meanings, compounds, and idioms. Indexes usually include both radical-stroke and pronunciation ("on" and "kun" readings), and sometimes other character indexing systems like the four corner method.
The history of "Kan–Wa" dictionaries began with early Japanese references such as the "Tenrei Banshō Meigi" and "Ruiju Myōgishō" (above). In 1716, the Edo author of "Yomihon", Tsuga Teishō (, 1718–1794) published the "Kōki Jiten" (), a Japanese version of the "Kangxi Dictionary", which standardized the "Kan-Wa jiten" system of 214 Kangxi radicals. The first dictionary titled with "Kan-Wa" was the "Kan-Wa Daijiten" ( "Great "Kanji"-Japanese Character Dictionary", Sanseido, 1903), edited by Shigeno Yasutsugu (, 1827–1910), founder of the "Shigaku zasshi". The " Daijiten" ( "Great Character Dictionary", Kodansha, 1917), edited by Sakaeda Takei , went through numerous reprints.
The best available "Kan–Wa" dictionary is unquestionably Morohashi Tetsuji ()'s 13-volume "Dai Kan-Wa Jiten" ( "Great/Comprehensive "Kanji"–Japanese Dictionary", Taishukan, 1956–60), which contains over 50,000 characters and 530,000 compounds. It was condensed into the 4-volume "Kō Kan-Wa Jiten" ( "Broad "Kanji"–Japanese Dictionary", Taishukan, 1982), edited by Morohashi, Kamata Tadashi (), and Yoneyama Toratarō (), which enters 20,000 characters and 120,000 compounds.
The following major "Kan–Wa" dictionaries are presented in the chronological order of their first editions. Note that the numbers of character headwords include variants.
"Kan-Ei jiten" ( ""Kanji"–English dictionary") refers to a character dictionary designed for English-speaking students of Japanese. An early example of, if not the prototype for, this type of dictionary is Arthur Rose-Innes' 1900 publication "3000 Chinese-Japanese Characters in Their Printed and Written Forms" , issued in Yokohama. Reprinted in 1913, a revised and enlarged edition appeared in 1915 and that volume was reprinted by United States Government Printing Office in 1943. This work evidently expanded for the second edition of Rose-Innes' "Beginners' Dictionary of Chinese-Japanese Characters with Common Abbreviations, Variants and Numerous Compounds" appeared in 1927 and contained 5,000 characters. Far from being a hastily-compiled wartime production, Rose-Innes' "Beginners' Dictionary" was an established work when reprinted during World War II―new editions having appeared in 1927, 1936, and 1942. Reprints of various editions were made in 1943, 1945, and 1950. A third edition appeared in 1953 and a fourth in 1959. Currently, an edition is kept in print by Dover Publications. However, the "Beginner's Dictionary of Chinese-Japanese Characters" (Harvard University Press, 1942, Dover reprint, 1977), edited by Arthur Rose-Innes is not the only one reprinted by Dover for it also reprinted the 1959 edition. A "new eighth edition" of the "Beginner's Dictionary of Chinese-Japanese Characters" appeared in Tokyo (the publisher was Meiseisha) in 1984. However, it has the same pagination of the 1959 edition, so, it may merely be a reprint. Another early English character dictionary is " = 6000 Chinese Characters with Japanese Pronunciation and Japanese and English Renderings" by J. Ira Jones and H.V.S. Peeke published in 1915 in Tokyo. The fourth edition of this work appeared in 1936.
There are currently four major "Kan–Ei" dictionaries.
It is noteworthy that all four of these "Ei–Wa" dictionaries attempted to improve upon the traditional radical system, which can be problematical for users, but none of their improvements has been widely accepted.
Japanese and English dictionaries.
Since Japanese bilingual dictionaries, which are available for most major world languages, are too numerous to be discussed here, the two cases in point are "Ei-Wa jiten" () "English–Japanese dictionaries" and "Wa-Ei jiten" () "Japanese–English dictionaries".
First, the history of English–Japanese dictionaries began at the end of the Edo period. The English missionary Walter H. Medhurst, who never traveled to Japan, compiled the first bilingual wordbook "An English and Japanese, and Japanese and English Vocabulary" (Batavia, 1830). The Dutch translator Hori Tatsunosuke (), who interpreted for Commodore Perry, compiled the first true English–Japanese dictionary: "A Pocket Dictionary of the English and Japanese Language" (, Yosho-Shirabedokoro, 1862). It was based upon English-Dutch and Dutch-Japanese bilingual dictionaries, and contained about 35,000 headwords.
English–Japanese dictionary publishing flourished during the Taishō period. Kanda Naibu () used the "Century Dictionary" as the basis for his "Mohan [Model] English–Japanese Dictionary" (, Sanseido, 1911). "Saito's Idiomological" [sic] "English–Japanese Dictionary" (, Ōbunsha, 1915) was edited by Saitō Hidesaburō ().Jūkichi Inouye (), a graduate of London University, edited "Inouye's English–Japanese Dictionary" (, Shiseidō, 1921). "Kenkyusha's New English–Japanese Dictionary on Bilingual Principles" (, 1927) was edited by Okakura Yoshisaburō ().
In the present day, four major English–Japanese dictionaries are available.
Second, the history of Japanese–English dictionaries began towards the end of the Edo period. The American missionary James Curtis Hepburn edited "A Japanese and English Dictionary with an English and Japanese Index" (, Shanghai, American Presbyterian Press, 1867), with 20,722 Japanese-English and 10,030 English-Japanese words, on 702 pages. Although designed to be used by missionaries in Japan, this first Japanese–English dictionary was so popular among the Japanese that nine editions were published by 1910.
The history of English–Japanese dictionaries began with the arrival of HMS Phaeton, in order to better facilitate sakoku policy in the future due to the Nagasaki Harbour Incident. The Rangaku interpreter, (), compiled the first Japanese English dictionary, purported to contain 6000 words in 1814 with the help of Dutch scholars in Japan titled "Angeria Gorintaisei" (). 
"An Unabridged Japanese–English Dictionary, with copious illustrations" (, Sanseido, 1896), edited by Frank Brinkley, Nanjō Bunyū () and Iwasaki Yukichika (), adapted and expanded Hepburn's dictionary into 1687 pages. It was primarily intended for English-speaking learners of Japanese. Jūkichi Inouye () also edited "Inouye's Japanese–English Dictionary" (, Sanseido, 1909), which was the first dictionary intended for Japanese learners of English. Takenobu Yoshitarō () edited the authoritative "Takenobu's Japanese–English Dictionary" (, Kenkyusha, 1918), which had more coverage and better usage examples than any contemporary dictionaries. It was subsequently revised as "Kenkyūsha's New Japanese–English Dictionary" (2nd ed. 1931) in order to compete with "A Standard Japanese–English Dictionary" (, Taishukwan, 1924), edited by Takehara Tsuneta (), with 57,000 headwords and 300,000 examples; and "Saitō's Japanese–English Dictionary" (, Nichi-Eisha, 1928), also edited by Saito Hidesaburo, with 50,000 headwords and 120,000 examples. Kenkyusha's mainstay dictionary is now in its fifth edition, with little contest. 
Specialized dictionaries.
"Senmon jiten" () means "specialized dictionary" and "senmon-go jiten" () means "jargon dictionary; technical dictionary". Since specialized Japanese dictionaries are too diverse and numerous to be covered here, four exemplary types are reviewed: dictionaries of old words, current words, loanwords, and thesauri. (See the bibliographies listed under "External links" below for more complete listings of specialized dictionaries.)
"Kogo jiten" () means "dictionary of Classical Japanese." Pre-modern or Classical Japanese can vary considerably from the modern language, and "kogo" dictionaries are essential for anyone reading historical texts. 
"Ryūkōgo jiten" () is a specialized wordbook of catchphrases and buzzwords. Japan, like most other countries, continually creates new and ephemeral terms. Three publishers put out annual paperback dictionaries that cover the latest native coinages and foreign borrowings.
"Gairaigo jiten" () means "loanword dictionary". Beginning with Chinese borrowings, the Japanese language has imported many foreign loanwords and abbreviations. Here are some of the best "gairaigo" dictionaries.
"Ruigo jiten" () means "thesaurus," synonymous with Japanese "ruigigo jiten" () and the English loanword "shisōrasu" (). 
Electronic and online dictionaries.
"Denshi jisho" () refers either generally to "dictionary software" (on CD-ROM, hard drive, "onrain jisho" "online dictionary", etc.) or specifically to "a dedicated PDA-type dictionary" also known as a "denshi jiten" ().
The specific meaning of handheld "electronic Japanese dictionary" became popular in the early 1980s. Modern stand-alone dictionaries resemble a PDA or small clamshell computer. Different manufacturers and models offer various user features, Japanese input methods, and multiple-volume capacities for switching between dictionaries of Modern Japanese, Classical Japanese, "Kanji", English, medical terminology, etc.
The general "denshi jisho" meaning of "dictionary database software" has evolved from early floppies that Japanese users copied onto their local computers to contemporary server-based dictionaries accessible by users with cell phones. Japanese dictionary software is available in either freeware or commercial versions, both of which are found online.
Many online dictionaries of Japanese are based upon Jim Breen's voluntary EDICT (Japanese–English Dictionary) Project, which consists of the 170,000 entry-strong core JMdict (XML) and EDICT (text) files (under Creative Commons license), and associated files such as KANJIDIC for "kanji". Eijirō, another major online database, is targeted primarily at native Japanese speakers, and as such lacks some of the features to make it more accessible to non-native speakers. Here are some major non-commercial online reference sites.
Second, many other online and Web dictionaries use commercial software from Japanese print dictionary publishers. Sanseido, for example, sells printed and CD-ROM dictionary versions, leases dictionary software to commercial Websites (especially search engines), and sells subscriptions to their Web Dictionary. Here are some dictionary websites that are popular in Japan.
From these high-tech online reference works, the path of Japanese lexicography extends back to early Chinese character dictionaries compiled by Heian Buddhist priests.