have a history that began over 1300 years ago when Japanese Buddhist priests, who wanted to understand Chinese sutras, adapted Chinese character dictionaries. Present-day Japanese lexicographers are exploring computerized editing and electronic dictionaries. According to Nakao Keisuke ():
It has often been said that dictionary publishing in Japan is active and prosperous, that Japanese people are well provided for with reference tools, and that lexicography here, in practice as well as in research, has produced a number of valuable reference books together with voluminous academic studies. (1998:35)
After introducing some Japanese "dictionary" words, this article will discuss early and modern Japanese dictionaries, demarcated at the 1603 CE lexicographical sea-change from Nippo Jisho, the first bilingual Japanese–Portuguese dictionary. "Early" here will refer to lexicography during the Heian, Kamakura, and Muromachi periods (794–1573); and "modern" to Japanese dictionaries from the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate era (1603–1867) through the present.
Lexicographical terminology First, it will be useful to introduce some key Japanese terms for dictionaries and collation (ordering of entry words) that the following discussion will be using.
The Wiktionary uses the English word dictionary to define a few synonyms including lexicon, wordbook, vocabulary, thesaurus, and translating dictionary. It also uses dictionary to translate six Japanese words. jiten (, lit. "word reference-work") "dictionary; lexicon; glossary" jiten (, lit. "character reference-work") "character dictionary" jiten (, lit. "thing reference-work") "encyclopedia, encyclopedic dictionary"Colloquially, to distinguish and , the former is referred to as kotobaten () and the latter kototen (). jisho (, lit. "word book") "dictionary; wordbook; lexicon; glossary" jisho (, lit. "character book") "character dictionary; dictionary" jibiki (, lit. "character pull/arrange) "character dictionary; dictionary" The first three homophonous jiten compounds of ten ( "reference work; dictionary; classic; canon; model") are Chinese loanwords. However, Chinese distinguishes their pronunciations, avoiding the potential ambiguities of Sino-Japanese jiten: cídiǎn "word dictionary", zìdiǎn "character dictionary", or "encyclopedia". The usual Japanese word for "encyclopedia" is hyakka jiten ( "100/many subject dictionary", see Japanese encyclopedias). The jiten, jisho, and jibiki terms for dictionaries of kanji "Chinese characters" share the element ji ( "character; graph; letter; script; writing").
Lexicographical collation is straightforward for romanized languages, and most dictionaries enter words in alphabetical order. In contrast, the Japanese writing system, with kanji, hiragana, and katakana, creates complications for dictionary ordering. University of Arizona professor Don C. Bailey (1960:4) discusses how Japanese lexicography differentiates semantic, graphic, and phonetic collation methods, namely: bunruitai ( "classification form") "semantic collation; grouping words with similar meanings; thesaurus-like organization" jikeibiki ( "character shape arrangement") "logographic collation; organizing kanji dictionaries by radicals (recurring graphic components)" onbiki ( "pronunciation arrangement") "phonetic collation; organization by the Japanese syllabary in iroha or gojūon ordering" In general, jikeibiki organization is for a readers' dictionary, bunruitai for a writers' dictionary, and onbiki for both types.
The Japanese writing system originated with the introduction of Chinese characters around the 4th century CE, and early Japanese dictionaries developed from Chinese dictionaries circa the 7th century CE. These three Japanese collation systems were borrowed and adapted from Chinese character dictionaries.
The first, and oldest, Chinese system of collation by semantic field (for instance, "birds" or "fish") dates back to the Erya (). Only a few dictionaries like the Xiao Erya (), Guangya (), and Piya () used semantic collation. This system is inefficient looking up a word unless the dictionary user already knows its meaning; such as using Roget's Thesaurus without an alphabetical index. Bunruitai collation is obsolete among modern Japanese dictionaries, with the exception of thesauri.
The second system of dictionary collation by radicals (Chinese bushou, Japanese bushu, "section headers") originated with the 121 CE Shuowen Jiezi () . Japanese dictionaries followed the Chinese example of reducing the number of radicals: original 540 (Shuowen Jiezi), adjusted 542 (Yupian ()), condensed 214 (Zihui (), Kangxi Dictionary ()), and abridged 189 (Xinhua Zidian ()). Japanese jikeibiki collation by radical and stroke ordering is standard for character dictionaries, and does not require a user to know the meaning or pronunciation beforehand.
The third Chinese system of ordering by pronunciation is evident in a rime dictionary, which collates the characters by tone and rime. The 601 CE Qieyun () is the oldest extant Chinese dictionary collated by pronunciation, and was expanded in the Guangyun () and Jiyun () . The shortcoming of this unwieldy tone-rime method is that a user needs to know, or guess, the pronunciation of a character in order to look it up. The modern Chinese dictionary improvement is alphabetical collation by pinyin romanization. Japanese onbiki dictionaries historically changed from poetic iroha to practical gojūon ordering around 1890. Compare the former pangram poem (i-ro-ha-ni-ho-he-to, chi-ri-nu-ru-wo, ... "Although flowers glow with color, They are quickly fallen, ...) with the latter "fifty sounds" 10 consonants by 5 vowels grid (a-i-u-e-o, ka-ki-ku-ke-ko, ...).
Early Japanese lexicography The first Japanese dictionaries are no longer extant and only known by titles. For example, the Nihon Shoki (tr. Aston 1896:354) says Emperor Tenmu was presented a dictionary in 682 CE, the Niina (, "New Characters") with 44 fascicles (kan ). The earliest dictionaries made in Japan were not for the Japanese language but rather dictionaries of Chinese characters written in Chinese and annotated in Japanese.
Japanese lexicography flowered during the Heian period, when Chinese culture and Buddhism began to spread throughout Japan. During the Kamakura and Muromachi eras, despite advances in woodblock printing technology, there was a decline in lexicography that Bailey (1960:22) describes as "a tendency toward simplification and popularization".
The following review of the first published Japanese dictionaries is divided into the above lexicographical jikeibiki, bunruitai, and onbiki types.
Graphically organized dictionaries Jikeibiki graphic collation began with the oldest extant Japanese dictionary: the Tenrei Banshō Meigi (), edited by the Heian monk and scholar Kūkai. It enters approximately 1,000 characters under 534 radicals, and each entry gives the seal script character, Chinese fanqie reading, and definition (usually copied from the Yupian), but does not give native kun'yomi Japanese readings.
The first dictionary containing Japanese readings of kanji was the Shinsen Jikyō (), which the editor Shōjū () compiled from the Yupian and Qieyun. It enters 21,300 characters, giving both Chinese and Sino-Japanese readings, and cites many early Japanese texts. Internal organization innovatively combines jikeibiki and bunruitai methods; a simplified system of 160 radicals is ordered semantically (e.g., 5-7 are Rain, Air, and Wind).
The Buddhist Ruiju Myōgishō () dictionary lists over 32,000 characters and compounds under 120 radicals. The structure and definitions closely follow the Chinese Yupian and Qieyun. This Heian reference work gives both Sino-Japanese and Japanese readings for kanji, usually with Kanbun annotations in citations from Chinese classic texts.
The Jikyōshū () collates Chinese characters primarily by the 542 Yupian radicals and secondarily by semantic headings adapted from the Iroha Jiruishō. This Kamakura dictionary, edited by Sugawara no Tamenaga (), exists in 3, 7, and 20 fascicle editions that have convoluted textual histories.
The next jikeibiki collated dictionary of kanji was the Wagokuhen (). This "Japanese Yupian" was based on the Chinese Yupian, actually the 1013 Daguang yihui Yupian (, "Expanded and Enlarged Yupian"), which was current in Muromachi Japan. The Wagokuhen went through dozens of editions, which collate entries through various systems of (from 100 to 542) radicals, without any overt semantic subdivisions.
Two historical aspects of these logographically arranged Japanese jikeibiki dictionaries are reducing the number of radicals and semantically ordering them. The radical systems ranged from 542 (the Yupian), 534, 160, 120, down to 100. Both the Shinsen Jikyō and Jikyōshū refined logographic categorization with bunruitai-type arrangements. While Chinese dictionaries have occasional examples of semantically ordered radicals (for instance, Kangxi radicals 38 and 39 are Woman and Child), Japanese lexicography restructured radicals into more easily memorable sequences.
Semantically organized dictionaries Japanese bunruitai semantic collation of dictionaries began with the 938 CE Wamyō Ruijushō (), compiled by Minamoto no Shitagō (). This Heian dictionary adapts the ancient Chinese Erya dictionary's 19 semantic categories into 24 Japanese headings with subheadings. For instance, Heaven and Earth is subdivided into Stars and Constellations, Clouds and Rain, Wind and Snow, etc. The character entries give source citations, Chinese pronunciations, definitions, and Japanese readings in the ancient Man'yōgana character system.
The Kagakushū () was an anonymous Muromachi era Japanese language dictionary or encyclopedia that defined some 3000 words into 18 semantic categories. It was designed for the literate public rather than for priests and literati, and was reissued many times.
Phonetically organized dictionaries Japanese onbiki phonetic collation began during the late Heian Period. The circa 1144–1165 CE Iroha Jiruishō () was the first dictionary to group entries in the iroha order. Words are entered by 47 first kana syllables, each subdivided into 21 semantic groups.
The Setsuyōshū () was a popular Muromachi dictionary collated in iroha order and subdivided into 12 (later 13) semantic categories. It defined current Japanese vocabulary rather than borrowed Sino-Japanese compounds, and went through many editions and reprints.
The 1484 Onkochishinsho () was the first Japanese dictionary to collate words in gojūon rather than conventional iroha order. This Muromachi reference work enters about 13,000 words, first by pronunciation and then by 12 subject classifications.
All three of these onbiki dictionaries adapted the bunruitai method to collate primarily by first syllable and secondarily by semantic field. This is comparatively less efficient than modern Japanese dictionaries with single-sorting gojūon collation by first syllable, second syllable, etc.
Modern Japanese lexicography The development of early Japanese lexicography from Chinese–Japanese dictionaries has cross-linguistic parallels, for instance, early English language lexicography developed from Latin–English dictionaries. Nonetheless, modern Japanese lexicography adapted to an unparalleled second foreign wave from Western language dictionaries and romanization.