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Kodansha's Furigana Japanese Dictionary: Japanese-English English-Japanese
A comprehensive, communicative, and practical guide to using Japanese, Kodansha's Furigana Japanese Dictionary is an invaluable tool for anyone with an interest in the Japanese language. It has been edited with the needs of English-speaking users in mind, whether students, teachers, business
people, or casual linguists, and special care has been taken at each stage of its compilation including the selection of entry words and their equivalents, the wording of the detailed explanations of Japanese words, the choice of example sentences, and even its functional page design to maximize its
usefulness.
What is furigana and why is it so important?
Furigana refers to the small kana that are printed above or alongside kanji to show their pronunciation. With furigana superscripts, the beginner who is familiar with hiragana and katakana is able to read even the most difficult and obscure kanji at a glance. Other dictionaries either provide little
or no guide to kanji readings or romanize some or all of the Japanese words and sentences. In the past, romanized dictionaries were of some value to students using textbooks that contained no Japanese script. Now, however, an increasing number of influential curricula around the world are based on a
rationale and methodology that demands the introduction of hiragana and katakana from the earliest stages. Learners and their teachers using such curricula will inevitably feel more comfortable with a dictionary such as Kodansha s Furigana Japanese Dictionary , one that shows the pronunciation of
kanji with a familiar and authentic kana script.
Combining Kodansha's Furigana Japanese-English Dictionary (1995) and Kodansha's Furigana English-Japanese Dictionary (1996) in one portable. affordable, and user-friendly volume, this dictionary has the following unique
o A basic vocabulary of 30,000 entries covers the most frequently used English and Japanese words
o Special treatment has been given to hundreds of words, names, and phrases of special relevance to English-speaking students of Japanese
o Semantic and usage differences between Japanese words and expressions are explained in clear English
o Thousands of example sentences and phrases illustrate how Japanese words are used in context
o Special information is provided on verb conjugations, formality, and other aspects of Japanese grammar and usage
people, or casual linguists, and special care has been taken at each stage of its compilation including the selection of entry words and their equivalents, the wording of the detailed explanations of Japanese words, the choice of example sentences, and even its functional page design to maximize its
usefulness.
What is furigana and why is it so important?
Furigana refers to the small kana that are printed above or alongside kanji to show their pronunciation. With furigana superscripts, the beginner who is familiar with hiragana and katakana is able to read even the most difficult and obscure kanji at a glance. Other dictionaries either provide little
or no guide to kanji readings or romanize some or all of the Japanese words and sentences. In the past, romanized dictionaries were of some value to students using textbooks that contained no Japanese script. Now, however, an increasing number of influential curricula around the world are based on a
rationale and methodology that demands the introduction of hiragana and katakana from the earliest stages. Learners and their teachers using such curricula will inevitably feel more comfortable with a dictionary such as Kodansha s Furigana Japanese Dictionary , one that shows the pronunciation of
kanji with a familiar and authentic kana script.
Combining Kodansha's Furigana Japanese-English Dictionary (1995) and Kodansha's Furigana English-Japanese Dictionary (1996) in one portable. affordable, and user-friendly volume, this dictionary has the following unique
o A basic vocabulary of 30,000 entries covers the most frequently used English and Japanese words
o Special treatment has been given to hundreds of words, names, and phrases of special relevance to English-speaking students of Japanese
o Semantic and usage differences between Japanese words and expressions are explained in clear English
o Thousands of example sentences and phrases illustrate how Japanese words are used in context
o Special information is provided on verb conjugations, formality, and other aspects of Japanese grammar and usage
1285 pages, Hardcover
First published October 31, 1999
3 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Kodansha
857 books22 followersKodansha Ltd. (Japanese: 株式会社講談社, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Kōdansha) is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, as well as the more literary magazines Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. Kodansha was founded by Seiji Noma in 1909, and members of his family continue as its owners either directly or through the Noma Cultural Foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 1, 2010
There's been this ongoing thread about works of literature composed under extreme formal constraints - star examples are La Disparition (French novel with no e's) and Eunoia (prose poem in five sections, each of which only uses one vowel). But it occurred to me today that a strong contender for the greatest such work in all world literature is the Japanese poem generally called the Iroha.
For people who don't know it, the background is as follows. Japanese writing uses a complicated combination of Chinese-derived characters called kanji and phonetic characters called kana. Simplifying slightly, each kana represents either a lone vowel, or a consonant followed by a vowel. There are 9 consonants and 5 vowels, hence there are 50 kana.
Now, here's the formal constraint task: compose a poem containing all 50 kana, using each one exactly once! The astonishing thing is that this is not merely possible, but has resulted in a classic poem. In transliteration, using the original pronunciation, it goes like this:
For people who don't know it, the background is as follows. Japanese writing uses a complicated combination of Chinese-derived characters called kanji and phonetic characters called kana. Simplifying slightly, each kana represents either a lone vowel, or a consonant followed by a vowel. There are 9 consonants and 5 vowels, hence there are 50 kana.
Now, here's the formal constraint task: compose a poem containing all 50 kana, using each one exactly once! The astonishing thing is that this is not merely possible, but has resulted in a classic poem. In transliteration, using the original pronunciation, it goes like this:
i ro ha ni ho he toThere are many translations into English. The one I like best is the following:
chi ri nu ru wo
wa ka yo ta re so
tsu ne na ra mu
u wi no o ku ya ma
ke fu ko e te
a sa ki yu me mi shi
we hi mo se su
Flowers bloom, but they fadeIsn't that really quite beautiful?
What in this world is permanent?
Today, let us cross the high mountains of life's illusion
And there will be no more shallow dreaming, no more drunkenness
June 25, 2022
A Japanese-English dictionary for English speakers
Of course, I did not literally read this book. I read the Publisher's Note and looked up some entries, particularly the verb "to love", which in Japanese is "愛する".
As a native English speaker learning Japanese, I use Japanese-English and English-Japanese dictionaries in different ways. When I look up an English word in the English-Japanese dictionary, I am looking for a translation. That is, I am looking for an answer to the question, "How do I say this in Japanese?". When I look up a Japanese word in the Japanese-English dictionary, I am trying to answer a different question, "What does this word mean?" Now, this might seem like a distinction without a difference, because of course the way meaning is conveyed to me is through English words.
But in truth, anyone who has used a foreign language dictionary knows that the distinction is real. In fact, when I try to figure out how to express a new idea in Japanese, I usually look it up twice. Of course, I begin by expressing the idea in English, which is easy for me as a native English speaker. I then look it up in the English-Japanese dictionary. I then look up the Japanese words in the Japanese-English dictionary to determine whether what they mean matches the idea I wanted to express.
One consequence of this is that an English-Japanese/Japanese-English dictionary is not symmetric. The two parts are not mirror images of each other -- they are used differently. The Kodansha's Furigana Japanese Dictionary is "has been edited and designed specially for non-native learners", as stated in the very first sentence of the "Publisher's Note" with which the book begins. It's a great tool for me.
There is another problem for a gaijin like me -- figuring out how to pronounce the word. Japanese is written in three different scripts: kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Hiragana and katakana are phonetic scripts that can be easily read by a student of Japanese. Kanji are Chinese characters that were borrowed into Japanese. There are thousands of kanji -- learning them is a huge job. In fact, it's what Japanese elementary schools spend most of their time teaching. Most kanji have at least two different pronunciations. Of course a student of Japanese doesn't know all these. To convey pronunciations, Kodansha's Furigana Japanese Dictionary uses furigana -- these are tiny hiragana characters printed just above the kanji. Every single kanji in the dictionary is accompanied by furigana, even the ones in the Publisher's Note.
It's an excellent tool.
Of course, I did not literally read this book. I read the Publisher's Note and looked up some entries, particularly the verb "to love", which in Japanese is "愛する".
As a native English speaker learning Japanese, I use Japanese-English and English-Japanese dictionaries in different ways. When I look up an English word in the English-Japanese dictionary, I am looking for a translation. That is, I am looking for an answer to the question, "How do I say this in Japanese?". When I look up a Japanese word in the Japanese-English dictionary, I am trying to answer a different question, "What does this word mean?" Now, this might seem like a distinction without a difference, because of course the way meaning is conveyed to me is through English words.
But in truth, anyone who has used a foreign language dictionary knows that the distinction is real. In fact, when I try to figure out how to express a new idea in Japanese, I usually look it up twice. Of course, I begin by expressing the idea in English, which is easy for me as a native English speaker. I then look it up in the English-Japanese dictionary. I then look up the Japanese words in the Japanese-English dictionary to determine whether what they mean matches the idea I wanted to express.
One consequence of this is that an English-Japanese/Japanese-English dictionary is not symmetric. The two parts are not mirror images of each other -- they are used differently. The Kodansha's Furigana Japanese Dictionary is "has been edited and designed specially for non-native learners", as stated in the very first sentence of the "Publisher's Note" with which the book begins. It's a great tool for me.
There is another problem for a gaijin like me -- figuring out how to pronounce the word. Japanese is written in three different scripts: kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Hiragana and katakana are phonetic scripts that can be easily read by a student of Japanese. Kanji are Chinese characters that were borrowed into Japanese. There are thousands of kanji -- learning them is a huge job. In fact, it's what Japanese elementary schools spend most of their time teaching. Most kanji have at least two different pronunciations. Of course a student of Japanese doesn't know all these. To convey pronunciations, Kodansha's Furigana Japanese Dictionary uses furigana -- these are tiny hiragana characters printed just above the kanji. Every single kanji in the dictionary is accompanied by furigana, even the ones in the Publisher's Note.
It's an excellent tool.
October 21, 2007
A good, solid dictionary with a good selection of words and sample sentences. It served me well during 2 years of Japanese language study and a year of living in Japan.
The binding, however, is rather weak for such a big book, and would not take abuse well. A good book to reference from home, not to travel with.
The binding, however, is rather weak for such a big book, and would not take abuse well. A good book to reference from home, not to travel with.
October 28, 2008
I've rarely not found a word in this dictionary, though at times some of the words are really obscure (like biological diseases and all). The examples really help, too, and besides the dictionary on the internet, I'd never use another dictionary for Japanese (besides the kanji one...).
April 28, 2008
An excellent compliment to the Kanji guide.
March 18, 2010
Great book for studying Japanese!
December 28, 2011
Best dictionary ever
January 5, 2013
BEST DICTIONARY EVAR!
Read
April 6, 2017It's so weird to be adding a dictionary here to my "read" books but for review purposes - I love using this one. I prefer furigana to romaji any day and I don't remember not being able to find a word in this one. Also, it's not ginormous. The secret? Thin pages.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews