List of Japanese dictionaries
Appearance
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 (Meiji 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 170,000 entries |
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 (Meiji 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 | 1943 … 2012 | a best-selling Japanese dictionary, 7 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 |