Strona 1 Strona 2 Kodansha USA Strona 3 A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR The Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (KKD) has for decades served as a standard reference work for learners of Japanese worldwide. Even now in this age of mobile apps, there is a quiet understand- ing that looking up in paper dictionaries enforces something in the mind that otherwise gets bypassed. The physical dictionary still has a place in this increasingly digitized world. At the same time there is no question that carrying around something as heavy as a comprehen- sive physical dictionary is not practical. This ebook edition of The Kodansha Kanji Dictionary maintains the intrinsic benefits of the format of the paper version, allowing you to have imme- diate access to a comprehensive kanji dictionary. For a fully interactive kanji dictionary app, please check out on Google Play and Apple’s App Store for The Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (KKLD), a subset of this KKD which has become extremely popular among learners. We hope you enjoy this ebook and invite you to continue to keep an eye out for other apps and paper dictionaries published by the CJK Dictionary Institute (for “CJKI”). Strona 4 This dictionary is based on the New Japanese-­English Character Dictionary, copyright © Jack Halpern, first published in Japan by Kenkyusha, Ltd. in 1990. Published by Kodansha USA, Inc., 451 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016 Distributed in the United Kingdom and continental Europe by Kodansha Europe, Ltd. Copyright © 2013 by Jack Halpern. All rights reserved. Printed in South Korea through Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 978‑1‑56836‑408‑7 Jacket design by Andrew Lee IMPORTANT NOTICE: The System of Kanji Indexing by Patterns (SKIP) may be used under the Creative Commons Attribution-­ Noncommercial-­Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. Library of Congress Cataloging-­in-­Publication Data The Kodansha Kanji dictionary / Editor in Chief, Jack Halpern.—Updated and revised ed. pages cm Text in English and Japanese. “This up-­to-­date revision of the New Japanese-­English Character Dictionary, originally published in 1990, includes an addi- tional 886 Joyo Kanji and Jinmei Kanji characters that were not present in the first edition.” Includes indexes. ISBN 978‑1‑56836‑408‑7 1. Japanese language—Dictionaries—English. 2. Chinese characters—Dictionaries—Japanese. I. Halpern, Jack, 1946- II. Title: New Japanese-­English Character Dictionary. PL677.5.N73 2013 495.6’321—dc23 2013004560 www.kodanshausa.com Strona 5 To Michal Strona 6 Every other author may aspire to praise; the lexicographer can only hope to escape reproach… Samuel Johnson (1709‑1784) author of Dictionary of the English Language (1755) 全ての執筆者は称賛を追い求める。 辞書編纂者が願うのは非難を免れることのみ。 サミュエル･ジョンソン (1709‑1784) ｢英語辞典｣ (1755年) の著者 Strona 7 CONTENTS 目 次 Foreword..............................................................................................................11a Foreword to the First Edition.........................................................................13a Preface...................................................................................................................15a Acknowledgments............................................................................................17a Introduction........................................................................................................19a Features of This Dictionary.............................................................................25a Explanatory Chart..............................................................................................35a Guide to the Dictionary................................................................................... 41a Abbreviations and Symbols...........................................................................55a The Kodansha Kanji Dictionary.........................................................................1 APPENDIXES 1. Outline of the Japanese Writing System........................................ 1773 2. System of Kanji Indexing by Patterns.............................................. 1781 3. How to Count Strokes........................................................................... 1810 4. How to Write Kanji.................................................................................. 1814 5. Kana and Romanization....................................................................... 1820 6. Rules for Okurigana................................................................................ 1827 7. The Radicals.............................................................................................. 1835 8. Historical Tables....................................................................................... 1846 9. Abbreviations of Place Names........................................................... 1849 10. Core Meanings Arranged by Frequency......................................... 1850 11. Jōyō Kanji List........................................................................................... 1863 12. Important Variants.................................................................................. 1871 13. List of Kanji Synonym Groups............................................................ 1875 7a Strona 8 INDEXES On-­Kun Index................................................................................................... 1945 Radical Index How to Use the Radical Index............................................................. 1981 Quick Reference Radical Chart........................................................... 1984 Radical Index............................................................................................ 1988 Pattern Index How to Use the Pattern Index............................................................ 2012 Pattern Index............................................................................................ 2014 8a Strona 9 EDITORIAL STAFF 編 集 スタッフ Editor in Chief Jack Halpern CEO, The CJK Dictionary Institute Research Fellow, Institute of Modern Culture, Showa Women’s University Editorial Consultants Kusuo Hitomi President, Showa Women’s University Eleanor H. Jorden Mary Dolon Alger Professor of Linguistics, Cornell University Masaaki Nomura Director, Department of Computational Linguistics, The National Language Research Institute (Japan) Akiyasu Todo formerly Professor of Chinese Literature at University of Tokyo and Waseda University Associate Editors Masato Asada M.A., University of Tokyo Michael Carr Ph.D., University of Arizona Chikasada Harada Professor, Showa Women’s University Yukio Ishikawa M.A., Keio University Asako Kaneko Assistant Professor, Showa Women’s University Masako Nakamura B.A., Hiroshima University Michael Staley Editor, Kodansha Ltd. Kay Yokota B.A., College of William and Mary Editorial Assistants Kurt Easterwood Harumi Iida Chikako Imoto Takane Ito JeanPaul Jenack Keith Johnson Kazuyoshi Kawakami Ryoun Kobayashi Christine Lamarre Peter H. Liu Russel Marcus Susumu Miyazawa Yuko Momose Kimiko Morishita Ryoko Murase Tazuko Nagae Setsuo Nara Harumi Nishimoto Aki Ono Junko Osaki Xianhua Piao Jack Plimpton Meryl Schaffer Junko Suzuki Kazuko Suzuki Midori Tajima Yuriko Takagi Hiroko Takahashi Noriko Yamamoto Tsuneo Yatagai Tadashi Yumiketa Keyboarding Michal Halpern Yoshie Miura Taeko Moriguchi Haruko Oasa Kumiko Suga Nobuko Suzuki Keiko Uchida Chieko Yokoe Toshiko Yoshida Chief of Software Development Nicola Mettifogo Director of Automated Typesetting, The CJK Dictionary Institute Tyler Reid Senior Software Engineer, The CJK Dictionary Institute Programming and Computer Consultants Shoichi Fujita, Yasuhiro Hasegawa, Koki Kondo, Toshio Otsuka Graphics Designer Toyoko Kon Secretarial and Clerical Assistants Chiaki Fujinawa Junko Higuchi Keiko Ikuta Miyuki Masuda Hikaru Matsumoto Keiko Matsuoka Keiko Matsushima Teruko Miyake Kumiko Nakagawa Sachiko Shibata Kazuto Shioiri Chieko Takahata Mitsuko Yanagisawa 9a Strona 10 Strona 11 FOREWORD 緒 言 This up-­to-­date revision of the New Japanese-­English Character Dictionary, originally published in 1990, includes an additional 886 Jōyō Kanji and Jinmei Kanji characters that were not present in the first edition. As Dr. Kusuo Hitomi mentions in his foreword to the first edition, kanji play a profound role in the Japanese language, constituting the foundation upon which the Japanese people communicate concepts and beliefs. During the Meiji era, when new products and ideas were rapidly being introduced to Japan from abroad, the ability to create new words using kanji characters allowed these new concepts to penetrate Japanese society with relative ease. Encountering new characters and kanji compounds naturally tests our allegorical reasoning skills. To fully comprehend the meaning of a kanji compound, one must first understand the meaning of each component. For example, the meaning of 売電 ‘selling electricity’ consists of 売 ‘sell’ and 電 ‘electricity’, so that the meaning of the whole is clear from the meanings of the components, even for compounds not listed in the dictionary. But this dictionary does not restrict itself to such obvious cases. For example, for 早 it gives the meaning ‘abbrev. of 早稲田大学 Waseda University’ and for 明 it gives ‘abbrev. of 明治大学 Meiji University’. This enables the user to comprehend that 早明戦 means ‘Waseda-­Meiji (baseball) game’, rather than “early bright war.” Similarly, only by knowing that the first character of 雀荘 ‘mahjong club’ is derived from 麻雀 ‘mahjong’ does the meaning of that compound become clear. Communication methods have changed drastically since the late twentieth century. Today virtually every- one communicates by email, alleviating the difficulty of having to write kanji characters or even to under- stand them in depth. But do the characters that pop up with such ease on our screens accurately convey the concepts we intend? Are we even expressing our own thoughts? I do hope that Japanese people will also make greater efforts to genuinely grasp the Japanese language and its writing system. For many years I taught Japanese to foreigners—or should I say, to non-­native speakers. The truth is that kanji constitute a huge hurdle for Japanese-­language learners, especially those from outside the Sinosphere. When it comes to learning kanji, many people simply give up. On the other hand, there are those who become captivated by kanji and consider them to be enjoyable as well as quite logical. I have often heard statements like “Sentences written in hiragana only are actually harder to read,” “If you know the kanji you can guess the general meaning, even if you don’t understand the context,” or, “When I visited Taiwan, I was able to get around by reading the kanji.” Here, I would like to recount my experience as a teacher who has long served as an interface between the Japanese language and such enthusiastic language learners. I first met Jack Halpern back in 1980, when I was in the midst of coauthoring a new textbook for beginners called Japanese for Busy People. I was striving to develop an organized, easy-­to-­understand way to explain the Japanese language system, which is so completely different from those of Indo-­European languages. While struggling to describe advanced grammatical points in a cogent manner, I decided to avoid the easy path of makeshift explanations that would later be inconsistent with those given at higher levels of learning. It was sometimes necessary to refer to the grammar of classical literature when contemporary grammar of the spoken language did not help. Meanwhile, Jack Halpern was eagerly undertaking the study of kanji, but, as he pointed out, no kanji diction- aries existed that were easy to use for nonnative learners of Japanese. He had taken it upon himself to develop a solution to this fundamental problem. He and I agreed that teaching methods and materials should not be based on the conventional wisdom of teachers who are native speakers of Japanese. We felt that there was an acute need for materials that offer an easy-­to-­understand system, and that put particular emphasis on the spe- cific challenges faced by nonnative learners. Such thinking, now commonplace, was not widespread back then. Jack Halpern and I had discovered a common mission. To achieve our goals, I went into textbook publishing, while he headed down the painstaking road toward completion of a kanji dictionary based on new principles. 11a Strona 12 The author explains the user-­friendliness of this dictionary in detail, so I need not reiterate it here. There is one feature, however, that I would like to draw special attention to. Looking up kanji is a challenging task for any- one, but nonnative learners of Japanese have particular difficulty with old character forms and kanji variants. In traditional character dictionaries, looking up kanji, especially old forms and variant forms, is fraught with dif- ficulties and requires a good knowledge of radicals. In contrast, this dictionary provides several search methods and indexes that enable even beginners to look up both simple and complex character forms with equal ease. This kanji dictionary is unrivaled in terms of both quantity and quality. It is a groundbreaking guide and a reliable authority that anticipates the particular challenges faced by beginners struggling to surmount the barriers posed by kanji. Moreover, for those who have already tasted the charm of kanji, it will surely provide an inexhaustible source of joy. I am convinced that this dictionary will fully satisfy the needs of kanji learners the world over. March 2013 Shigeko Miyazaki Tokyo Chair of the Board, The Association for Japanese-­Language Teaching (AJALT) FOREWORD 12a Strona 13 FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION 第 一 版 緒 言 An isolated island country lying off the eastern edge of the continental land mass of Asia, Japan has, since ancient times, developed a distinctive culture and history of her own while maintaining relations with her Asian neighbors. Chinese characters, which were introduced to Japan from ancient China, gave birth to a new set of phonetic characters known as kana. Although both these forms of script have thereafter been used side by side to write the Japanese language, the Chinese characters have always played a central role, serving as the chief medium of communicating ideas in a broad spectrum of fields ranging from philosophy and scholarship to the literary arts and ethics. The introduction of Chinese characters made it possible for the Japanese to learn about religious ideas from the Buddhist classics and gave them a new means for expressing subtle emotional nuances. Eventually evolved a script, unprecedented in history, in which kana and kanji blend to produce a powerful means of conveying meaning in a concise and effective manner. The adoption of advanced Western thought, culture, social institutions, and technology that took place during the rapid modernization after the Meiji Restoration gave rise to a need for coining countless neologisms to express new concepts. Such items as 文明 ぶんめい ‘civ- ilization’, 経済 けいざい ‘economics’, and 手続 てつづき ‘procedure’ are only a few examples of the innumerable words whose coinage was made possible by the word-­forming ability of Chinese characters. This uniquely Japanese writing system, while playing a role as a most beneficial and distinctly human medium of communication, has blossomed into a treasure of Japanese culture and tradition. In this man- ner, the Chinese characters have served as an extremely convenient set of symbols—the central pillar of the evolution of Japan’s culture; in fact, they are the very symbol of Japan’s membership in the “Kanji Sphere of Culture” [Sinosphere]—a community of nations sharing a common heritage based on Chinese characters. Though Japan has experienced many ups and downs during the period of more than one hundred years that has elapsed since the Meiji Restoration, she has successfully pulled through to attain a high level of economic growth, and now even stands at the forefront of science and technology. As Japan has come to occupy an important position in world affairs, a rapidly increasing number of people and nations in every corner of the globe are turning to her as a focus of intense interest and active concern. This trend, which is likely to accelerate as the world undergoes increased internationalization, is clearly apparent in the sharp rise, both at home and abroad, in the number of non-­Japanese studying Japanese in recent years. As Japan heads into the twenty-­first century, organizations engaged in Japanese-­language education are vigorously preparing to accommodate the growing demand by training more teachers, improving teaching methods, developing improved teaching materials, and implementing Japanese-­language proficiency examinations. All this notwithstanding, one of the central problems in Japanese-­language education today is, as pointed out by Shigeko Miyazaki, chair of the board of the Association for Japanese-­Language Teaching, the almost total lack of truly effective dictionaries for learners. A mere translated version of existing Japanese-­Japanese dictionaries is hardly adequate for meeting the needs of the foreign student. More than anything else, there is now an urgent need for the publication of effective dictionaries that squarely address these needs. The original motive force for the compilation of this dictionary sprung from the editor’s own arduous expe- riences in struggling with traditional methods of rote memorization and the excessive burden which these place on the memory. Based on voluminous data sources and modern linguistic theory, this work is designed to meet the special needs of the non-­Japanese student, while serving as a linguistically accurate, useful work of reference even for native Japanese. This dictionary also introduces a new method of looking up characters known as the System of Kanji Indexing by Patterns (SKIP), which enables one to locate entries rapidly without previous knowledge of kanji elements. Character meanings and compound words are arranged in a manner that shows how each character functions as a word-­building element, and an analysis of the differences between homophones (words pronounced alike but written differently) and kanji synonyms is presented. We are confident that 13a Strona 14 students of Japanese using this dictionary will make rapid progress in their studies by deepening their knowledge and understanding of kanji, and will be completely gratified with its effectiveness. In accordance with the founding principles of Showa Women’s University, we endeavor to educate women to be “aware, intelligent, and fair-­minded.” Over the long years of our existence, we have striven to cultivate young women who will play an important role in society and, at the same time, have endeavored to contrib- ute to research on and the advancement of culture. The Institute of Modern Culture, which is affiliated with the university and has been actively engaged in promoting cultural research, recognized that kanji is the key to the healthy growth of Japanese culture and literature. The Institute recognized the import of the new dictionary, and consequently proceeded, under the direction of Jack Halpern as editor in chief, to embark upon the long years of research necessary for its compilation. To bring a project of this magnitude and complexity to successful completion required a high degree of scholarly expertise, the latest computer photocomposition technology, and advanced system design and software engineering. Furthermore, the layout and design of the dictionary had to be carefully executed to achieve maximum ease of use while satisfying a broad spectrum of diversified needs. To accomplish these objectives required an inestimable number of man-­hours, painstaking labor, and capital funding on a major scale. If not for these coordinated efforts, this work would not have seen the light of day. On this day, as we present the world with this new work, it is our duty to record our everlasting gratitude to Jack Halpern, the chief editor and central figure responsible for seeing this project through, for his out- standing achievement in producing a work that represents a significant departure from traditional character-­ dictionary lexicography. It is our great fortune that Jack Halpern, who eagerly devoted himself to the project while overcoming innumerable difficulties, should have become captivated by the rhythmical tones of the Japanese language and so intrigued by the Chinese characters as to embark upon their serious study. The day will surely come when he will be widely recognized for promoting the study of kanji throughout the world. I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to the distinguished scholars who served as editorial con- sultants, including Professor Eleanor Jorden, Professor Aki­ya­su To­do, Professor Ma­sa­a ­k i No­mu­ra, Professor Chi­ka­sa­da Ha­ra­da, and others for their most valuable advice and cooperation. Sincere gratitude also goes to the Dictionary Department of Ken­kyu­sha as well as to the technical staff engaged in computer photocom- position at the Top­pan Printing Company for rendering their outstanding efforts. I also wish to sincerely thank the many organizations, foundations, and individuals who have made financial contributions to the project for their unlimited understanding and moral support. I am convinced that this dictionary will make a major contribution to both the teaching and learning of Japanese. It is, furthermore, my earnest hope that this work will help promote understanding of Japan among the people of the world, and thereby stimulate further international economic and cultural exchange. March 1990 Kusuo Hitomi Tokyo President of Showa Women’s University FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION 14a Strona 15 PREFACE 序 言 Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since the first edition of this work, the New Japanese-­English Character Dictionary (NJECD), was published by Kenkyusha in 1990. This groundbreaking dictionary, which has gained a solid reputation in the Japanese-­language education community throughout the world, has become a standard reference work. This revised edition, The Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (KKD), has the same goal as its predecessor: to provide the user with a thorough understanding of how kanji are used in contemporary Japanese. This is achieved by providing instant access to a wealth of useful information on the meanings, readings, and compounds for each entry character up to the advanced level and beyond. Furthermore, this edition meets the urgent need for a comprehensive kanji dictionary based on the revised Jōyō Kanji list promulgated in November 2010. The most important feature of the revised edition is the addition of 821 new entries, bringing the total to 4408 character entries (excluding cross-­references) covering all the kanji in the official Jōyō Kanji and Jinmei Kanji lists and beyond. State-­of-­the-­art typesetting technology was combined with computational lexicography to produce a work that aims to serve as a highly effective learning aid. Like The Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary: Revised and Expanded (KKLD), this revised edition includes various features to help learners study kanji effectively, including core meanings for a deeper understanding of kanji, and the renowned SKIP system for rapid lookup. The present work was compiled by The CJK Dictionary Institute, whose mission is to create large-­scale lexical resources for CJK languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) and to publish high-­end dictionaries and software for learners of Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic. The work represents the latest addition to the Kanji Integrated Tools (KIT), a series of dictionaries and software applications for mastering the Japanese writing system (eleven have been published altogether). On this auspicious occasion, it is my sincere hope that the revised edition will serve as an up-­to-­date, easy-­ to-­use reference, thereby promoting better communication between Japan and the rest of the world. March 2013 Jack Halpern Saitama, Japan Editor in Chief 15a Strona 16 Strona 17 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 謝 辞 The Kodansha Kanji Dictionary is the second edition of the New Japanese-­English Character Dictionary published by Kenkyusha in 1990. The two editions were compiled with the enthusiastic cooperation of some 120 staff members, part-­time assistants, and outside consultants over a period of some eighteen years. First and foremost, I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the late Professor Kusuo Hitomi, former presi- dent of Showa Women’s University, whose personal support of and unshaken faith in the project saw the first edition of this dictionary through the most difficult times both financially and logistically. Special recognition is due to the distinguished scholars, editorial consultants, and editors without whose generous contributions this dictionary would not have seen the light of day. My gratitude goes to Professor Ma­sa­a ­k i No­mu­ra, for helping establish editorial policy; Dr. Michael Carr, Professor Chi­ka­sa­da Ha­ra­da, and Assistant Professor A­sa­ko Ka­ne­ko, for critically proofreading the entire manuscript of the first edition; Professor Eleanor H. Jorden, a world authority on Japanese language studies, for her valuable suggestions; and finally, internationally renowned kanji scholar Professor A­k i­ya­su To­do and Japanese-­language authority Professor Ha­ru­hi­ko Kin­da­i­chi, for offering their warm recommendations. Special thanks are due to Ma­sa­to A­sa­da, Ma­sa­ko Na­ka­mu­ra, To­shi­ko Yo­shi­da, Chi­e­ko Yo­ko­e, Ryo­ko Mu­ra­se, Mi­do­ri Ta­ji­ma, Kurt Easterwood, Xian­hua Piao, and other editors and proofreaders for their devotion to the tasks of semantic analysis, compilation of data, and the meticulous checking of sources, and validation of the data. In addition, dozens of consultants, computer programmers, keyboard operators, and secretarial and clerical personnel have worked on both editions at one time or another during its eighteen years of progress. I also wish to thank the many others who have made substantial contributions to the arduous tasks of proof- reading, compiling, and managing the revised edition, including but not limited to Michael Staley, the editor in charge of the project at Kodansha; Kay Yo­ko­ta, for her painstaking efforts in compiling hundreds of new entries; Chikako Imoto, for her meticulous attention in proofreading; Na­o­y u­k i Ta­ke­shi­ta, for his help in creating user-­defined fonts of excellent quality; Xanthe Smith Serafin, a highly competent translator, for her contribution; Ki­mi­ko Mo­ri­shi­ta, who devoted careful attention to managing the project; and Ken Lunde, Senior Computer Scientist at Adobe Systems and a world authority on CJK information processing, for his inexhaustible assistance in customizing our fonts and guidance in using InDesign. I also wish to thank the many organizations and individuals that have made substantial contributions to the dictionary, especially the staff members in charge of the project at Kodansha USA, and those who have con- tributed to the scholarly accuracy of the dictionary or have assisted in other ways, including Ko­ku­go Mon­dai Kyo­gi­kai former president No­bu­ta­ne Ki­u­chi, Japan Foundation, National Language Research Institute, Japan Research Corporation chairman Ka­zuo No­da, Professor Ta­kao Su­zu­k i, and Shi­ge­ko Mi­ya­za­k i, chair of the Association for Japanese-­Language Teaching. I want to express my gratitude to the team of programmers who contributed to this project, but most of all to Tyler Reid and Ni­co­la Met­ti­fo­go for their invaluable assistance in developing the data processing programs and sophisticated page composition system that made this dictionary a reality. To bring a project of this magnitude to successful completion required large-­scale contributions and finan- cial assistance from many quarters. I wish to express my deep appreciation to the approximately 150 indi- viduals, private organizations, corporations, and foundations that recognized the import of the dictionary and selflessly offered continuous support without seeking personal returns. I also wish to express my sincere thanks to Vice Chairman So­hei Na­ka­ya­ma and First Subcommittee Chairman Na­o­hi­ro A­ma­ya, both of the National Council on Educational Reform, who have given their wholehearted support and assistance in raising funds for the project, and to Ki­yo­ta­ka Ku­ro­ka­wa, Ya­suo 17a Strona 18 U­shi­o­da, Yoichiro Yamamura, and Russel Marcus for their active cooperation in the fund-­raising effort and for their continuous moral support. I am indebted to the hundreds of reference works such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, books, magazines, and newspapers that were used as sources or for reference in the compilation of this dictionary. Finally, to my wife, Michal, who for long years devoted superhuman efforts to the project and has seen it through the most difficult of times, goes my everlasting gratitude and appreciation. March 2013 Jack Halpern Saitama, Japan Editor in Chief ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 18a Strona 19 INTRODUCTION 序 説 The Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (KKD) enables the user to gain an in-­depth understanding of how kanji are used in contemporary Japanese by providing quick and easy access to a wealth of useful information on the meanings, read- ings, and compounds for each entry character. A unique and valuable feature is the core meaning, a concise keyword that defines the most dominant meaning of each character, which is followed by detailed meanings that clearly show how a few thousand basic building blocks are combined to form countless compound words. Clear, complete, and accurate character meanings, illustrated by numerous compounds and examples, are grouped around the core meaning in a logically structured manner that allows them to be perceived as an integrated unit. A unique feature of this dictionary is the full guidance it provides for distinguish- ing between easily confused characters such as synonyms, homophones, and orthographic variants. Another unique feature is the System of Kanji Indexing by Patterns (SKIP), a sys- tem that enables the user to locate characters as quickly and as accurately as in alphabetical dictionaries. Modern linguistic theory has been effectively integrated with sophisticated information technology to produce a powerful tool that can be used by learn- ers and educators with equal ease. For the first time, users have at their finger- tips a wealth of information on kanji that is linguistically accurate, easy to use, and carefully adapted to their practical needs. Thanks to these and other features, this is the most in-­depth and most compre- hensive kanji-­English dictionary ever compiled. JAPANESE TODAY THE STUDY OF KANJI The emergence of Japan as an economic and indus- The Japanese writing system is composed of two trial superpower has had a major impact on her role phonetic syllabaries, called hiragana and katakana, in world affairs. More than ever before, business- and thousands of Chinese characters, called kanji. people, students, diplomats, and scientists are faced Kanji have three basic properties: form, sound, and with a growing need to communicate with Japan meaning. Many characters are of complex shape, in her own tongue. In fact, statistics show that the some having more than twenty or even thirty number of Japanese-­language students in the world strokes. Almost all characters may be pronounced has been rising rapidly. according to their Chinese-­derived on reading(s), or one of several native Japanese kun readings, Japanese is considered a difficult language. Some and each reading may have numerous meanings. characteristics which justify this classification are Moreover, since many words are pronounced the a grammatical structure that is radically different same but written differently (homophones), the from that of the European languages, complicated Japanese writing system is complex and requires levels of formality, and what could be safely termed considerable effort to learn. the most complex writing system devised by man. Consequently, the non-­Japanese learner must But the effort is well worthwhile. Kanji have the abil- invest considerably more time and effort to master ity to generate hundreds of thousands of compound Japanese than most other foreign languages. words from a basic stock of a few thousand units. 19a Strona 20 They form a network of interrelated parts that func- convenient lookup tool. In addition, five other tion as an integrated system, not as an arbitrary set lookup methods, such as the Radical Index and the of disconnected symbols. The few character diction- On-­Kun Index, assure maximum convenience to aries for nonnative speakers presently available for the user. nonnative speakers fail to systematically address that most elusive, yet undoubtedly most important, Precise distinctions A unique feature of this dic- aspect of kanji: their meanings, especially their tionary is the detailed treatment of the differences meanings as word-­building elements. and similarities between closely related characters. This includes the fine distinctions between kanji Millions of people are learning Japanese in some synonyms (形 ‘shape’ vs. 状 ‘form’), usage notes 15,000 schools and organizations throughout the indicating the differences between homophones world. Although the number of Japanese‑language stu- (あくwritten 開く ‘open’ or 空く ‘become vacant’), dents has been rising at a rapid pace, effective learning and labels that show the differences between ortho- aids for truly mastering kanji have not been available. graphic variants (希 vs. 稀 in the sense of ‘rare’). Many other features, such as traditional and Chinese A NEW DICTIONARY APPROACH character forms, detailed stroke order diagrams, The primary goal of this dictionary has been set high: an attractive user-­friendly design, and appendixes to create a practical tool that enables the learner to that give a wealth of reference information distin- gain an in-­depth understanding of the most fre- guish this as the most in-­depth Japanese-­English quently used kanji in contemporary Japanese. This character dictionary ever compiled. was achieved by making full use of the most recent advances in linguistic science, computational lexi- COVERAGE AND SOURCES cography, and digital publishing technology. This dictionary offers a detailed treatment of the Based on a systematic approach and a firm theoret- meanings and functions of the most frequently ical foundation, this dictionary is designed to meet used kanji in present-­day Japanese, with particular in full the specific needs of non-­Japanese users. We emphasis on contemporary usage and newspapers. have avoided the path of least resistance taken by It contains 4408 main entry characters and approxi- other works: that is, compiling lists of words and mately 65,000 senses for some 50,000 words, word presenting only dry facts such as readings and elements, and illustrative examples. stroke-­counts, while sidestepping the difficult task of presenting accurate character meanings. This dic- Entry Characters The entries include (1) the 2136 tionary not merely accurately records the linguistic characters in the official Jōyō Kanji list, which are facts about kanji, but also strives to present them in widely used in the media and education, (2) the 861 a manner that gives the user insight into how they characters in the official Jinmei Kanji list, used in function as a system. names, (3) 345 non-­jōyō and radical entries, (3) 1066 nonstandard forms, and (4) 1050 cross-­reference This dictionary offers various unique features that entries. These cover more than 99% of the most clearly distinguish it from past works. It departs frequently used characters, which is adequate for from tradition in three important ways. meeting the needs of the serious learner. Accurate character meanings The core meaning, Compound Words Our general approach in selecting a concise keyword that provides a clear grasp of the compound words has been to include the ones most most fundamental concept for each character, is useful to the user, based on the following criteria: followed by clear and detailed character meanings arranged in a manner that shows how they are inter- 1. High-­frequency compounds based on statistics related. Each meaning is followed by compounds and compiled by the National Language Research examples that show how they are formed from their Institute in the official survey A Study of Uses of constituents. Moreover, the degree of importance for Chinese Characters in Modern Newspapers. each meaning is indicated for four levels of study. 2. All compounds normally written in kanji that are listed in Ten Thousand Graded Japanese Efficient  indexing  system The SKIP indexing Words (一万語語彙分類集), published by system enables even beginners to locate entries Senmon Kyōiku Shuppan. quickly and with ease. Since it can be mastered in 3. Thousands of additional compounds necessary for a very short time, this dictionary is an extremely illustrating the meanings of (1) the new characters INTRODUCTION 20a