foreign languages

Kodansha's Furigana dictionary is simply one of the best Japanese<->English dictionaries I have seen on the market, especially for students of Japanese. The English-Japanese volume of this wonderful dictionary is simply indispensable to beginners of the language once they have mastered the two kana scripts, viz, hiragana and katakana, as would be expected of any serious student, since the dictionary does not contain any Romanised entries.

One great feature about this dictionary particularly valuable to beginners who may not know many kanji is that all the kanjis, be they in the entries or the examples, have small kanas printed over them indicating their pronunciation, i.e., furigana. The definitions themselves are up-to-date, clear, being written for English speakers, and most entries contain illustrative example sentences indicating of usage.

The English-Japanese section lists some 14,000 entries of commonly used English words. This section is rather limited in scope, for the native English speaker is likely to find that the word he wishes to translate into Japanese is not listed, and an alternative need be found.

In the Japanese-English section, the entries are listed in kana, in the kana order, which is much better than other Romanised dictionaries which list Japanese words in English alphabetical order. If kanji exists for that entry, then it immediately follows the headword, after which comes the definition. Synonyms are also indicated in the entries, and ample example sentences are given. Three appendices are included, listing verb conjugations, numerical counters and place names.

The book itself is physically well produced, with a hardcover. The paper is of good quality, and the print is clear although none too large. Moreover, the size of the book is neither so large nor so heavy as to become cumbersome or inconvenient to use. Many of the typographical errors in the previous separate editions have been corrected in this combined edition.

In summary, then, the Kodansha's Furigana English & Japanese dictionary is a great boon to any serious beginning or intermediate student of Japanese. For the advance learner, however, its limited scope of some sixteen thousand words makes it perhaps not quite as useful. Two of its features, i.e., doing away with romaji (Romanised script), which is very irritating to users familiar with kana, by using kana instead (as the Japanese would, in any case), and indicating the reading of all kanjis with furigana, sets this dictionary apart from others in the market, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to any serious student embarking on a study of the Japanese language.

I think this handsome volume is ideal for advanced beginner/intermediate Japanese student (I myself am in this category). Others here have complained about limited vocabulary but I've found it to be sufficient. When I'm talking on the phone with Japanese friends, I keep it handy and it has seldom let me down. It also comes in handy when trying to write a letter in Japanese because most entries include multiple example sentences. What's really meaningful about this dictionary is that it can function as a kind of Rosetta Stone for those struggling to connect spoken Japanese, phonetic characters (kana), and the Chinese charaters used by Japanese readers (Kanji). The advanced beginner will have learned the phonetic alphabet and can find Japanese words organized by kana spellings, then be able to look at that word's kanji. For this reason, absolute beginners should only buy this book if they are committed to at least a year of learning (otherwise it will probably end up on a shelf and will go picked over at yard sales). If you are in the absolute beginner category and only need enough Japanese to get along on a short trip to Japan or to decode japanimation films- I'd recommend the Random House paperback dictionary. It's cheap and easy to read. But for those who want to take their Japanese learning to the next level: this stately and stout blue-cloth hardback will no doubt be a good companion.

Well worth the money.

I bought this dictionary not knowing what to expect. However, the very first time I used it I knew I had made an excellent buy. Because of the example sentences that come with many of the entries, Kondasha's Furigana Dictionary is invaluable for those who have memorized a lot of vocabulary, but do not know how to use it in context. For those who already have some knowledge of kanji, the dictionary helps retain their pronunciation, since furigana are printed above each character.
I am glad I bought this dictionary. I am sure you will enjoy it too.