List of Japanese dictionaries

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

[edit]

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

## See also

[edit]

* List of Chinese dictionaries
* List of English dictionaries
* List of French dictionaries
* List of etymological dictionaries

* v
* t
* e

Dictionaries of Japanese

Monolingual dictionaries|

| Classical Japan|

* Tenrei Banshō Meigi
* Shinsen Jikyō
* Wamyō Ruijushō
* Ruiju Myōgishō
* Iroha Jiruishō

|

Medieval Japan|

* Jikyōshū
* Kagakushū
* Onkochishinsho
* Wagokuhen
* Setsuyōshū
* Rakuyōshū

Modern Japan|

* Kokushi Daijiten
* Shin Meikai kokugo jiten
* Dai Kan-Wa Jiten
* Kōjien
* Sanseido Kokugo Jiten
* Nihon Kokugo Daijiten
* Nihon Kingendaishi Jiten
* Daijirin
* Nihongo Daijiten
* Daijisen

Bilingual dictionaries|

| Print|

* Nippo Jisho
* Diego Collado's Grammar of the Japanese Language
* Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English Dictionary
* Nichi-Ran jiten
* The Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary
* The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary
* The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary
* Dictionary of Sources of Classical Japan

|

Electronic|

* Eijirō
* JMdict
* Wadokukeizai [ja]

List of Japanese dictionaries Category
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