List of Japanese dictionaries

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The following is a list of notable print, electronic, and online Japanese dictionaries. This is a sortable table: clicking the arrows in the header cells will cause the table rows to sort based on the selected column, in ascending order first, and subsequently toggling between ascending and descending order.

Title Year (Period) Notes
Dai Kan-Wa Jiten 1955–1960, 1990, 2000 Tetsuji Morohashi's Chinese-Japanese character dictionary, 13 volumes, 2 supplements, over 50,000 entries
Daijirin 1988, 1995, 2006 comprehensive single-volume Japanese dictionary, 3 editions
Daijisen 1995, 1998 general-purpose Japanese dictionary, 2 editions
Dictionary of Sources of Classical Japan 2006–present English, French, and Japanese dictionary of classical Japanese literature
Diego Collado's Grammar of the Japanese Language 1632 (Edo period) grammatical description of Japanese in framework of Latin grammar
EDICT 1991–present Jim Breen's machine-readable multilingual Japanese dictionary, KANJIDIC for kanji, more than 180,000 entries[1]
Eijirō 2002–2014 large English-Japanese translation database, 8 revisions
Gjiten 1999–2006 free software using GNOME development libraries, allows searching dictionaries like EDICT
Iroha Jiruishō 1165(?) (Heian period) first kanji dictionary to collate characters by pronunciation rather than logographic radical, several revisions and expansions
Jikyōshū 1245(?) (Kamakura period) Kanji dictionary with Chinese rime and Japanese pronunciations, 3 editions
Kagakushū 1444 (Muromachi period) first semantically collated dictionary of Chinese characters, designed for average users rather than scholars, 3000 entries
Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English Dictionary 1918 ... 2003 largest and most authoritative Japanese-English dictionary, 5 editions,
Kiten 2001–2006 KDE Software Compilation's program for learning kanji
Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary 2002 Jack Halpern's Kanji-English dictionary, collated by SKIP system, also pronunciations and radical indexes
Kōjien 1955 ... 2008 Shinmura Izuru's bestselling authoritative single-volume dictionary, 6 editions, 240,000 entries
Kokushi Daijiten 1927, 1979–1997 general-purpose dictionary of Japanese history, 15 volumes
The Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary 1962, 1974 Andrew Nelson's kanji dictionary, 5,446 entries
Moji 2011 open source, cross-platform extension for using Japanese and Chinese dictionaries
The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary 1997 John H. Haig's revised edition of The Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary, 7,000 entries including variants
Nichi-Ran jiten 1934 Peter Adriaan van de Stadt's Japanese–Dutch dictionary, 33,800 entries
Nihon Kingendaishi Jiten 1978 dictionary of modern Japanese history from 1848 to 1975, 12,000 entries
Nihon Kokugo Daijiten 1972–1976, 2000–2002 largest Japanese language dictionary, 20-volume and 14-volume editions, 503,000 entries
Nihongo Daijiten 1989, 1995 Tadao Umesao's popular color-illustrated Japanese dictionary, 2 editions
Nippo Jisho 1603 (Edo period) Japanese-Portuguese dictionary, first European language dictionary of Japanese, 32,293 entries, later translations in Spanish, French, and Japanese editions
Onkochishinsho 1484 (Muromachi period) first Japanese dictionary collated in the now standard gojūon system, 13,000 entries
Rakuyōshū 1598 (Muromachi period) first dictionary to separate kanji pronunciation between Sino-Japanese on'yomi and native kun-yomi readings
Ruiju Myōgishō 1100 (Heian period) usage examples from over 130 Chinese classics and Japanese literature, collated by 120-radical system, 32,000 entries
Sanseido Kokugo Jiten 1960 ... 2014 general-purpose dictionary, quotes contemporary usage examples, 7 editions, 82,000 entries
Setsuyōshū 1496 (Muromachi period) popular early dictionary collated in iroha order, contemporaneous usage examples, many later editions
Shin Meikai kokugo jiten 1972 ... 2020 a best-selling Japanese dictionary, 8 editions
Shinsen Jikyō 0901 (Heian period) first dictionary to include Japanese kun'yomi readings and kokuji characters, 21,300 entries
Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary 1986 ... 2012 medium-sized learners' dictionary, 5 editions, 13,800 entries
Tenrei Banshō Meigi 0835 (Heian period) Kūkai's classic dictionary adapted from the (c. 543) Chinese Yupian, 1,000 character entries, 534-radical system collation
Wagokuhen 1489 (Muromachi period) Japanized version of the Chinese Yupian dictionary, katakana annotations for on'yomi and kun'yomi pronunciations
Wamyō Ruijushō 0938 (Heian period) first Japanese dictionary collated by semantic fields, gives Chinese pronunciations, Japanese readings in ancient Man'yōgana transcription, and definitions
Wordtank 1989 early Japanese electronic dictionary for learners of kanji
Wordtank G50 2004 updated export version Wordtank with Japanese-English and English-Japanese dictionaries, superseded by G70
WWWJDIC 1998–present Jim Breen's searchable online EDICT Japanese-English dictionary server, additional versions in German, French, Russian, Hungarian, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch

References

  1. ^ "At 180,000 entries, Jim Breen's freeware Japanese dictionary is still growing". June 25, 2018.

See also