Standard Japanese Common Kanji Dictionary

Author: Jian Peizhi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Since the introduction of Chinese characters to Japan, they have been integrated into the native Japanese language, becoming a major component of Japanese language and script. Many people mistakenly believe that learning Japanese is easier for Chinese speakers compared to other foreign languages, primarily because Japanese uses not only its own script—Kana—but also a significant number of Chinese characters. However, difficulties arise shortly after beginning the study. The main challenges are two-fold: First, the written forms of Chinese characters differ between China and Japan. Second, in terms of pronunciation, although the Japanese government announced 1,945 characters as "general-use characters" for daily life in 1981, the actual usage of characters far exceeds this number. Additionally, there are "personal name characters," and each character has both on'yomi (sound reading) and kun'yomi (meaning-based reading). Some characters have multiple on'yomi or kun'yomi. Mastering "sokuon" (a special kana attached to indicate pronunciation) during kun'yomi reading is also a challenge. This book explains the pronunciation and usage of the 1,945 general-use characters in Japanese, including special (colloquial readings) listed in the "Supplementary List of General-Use Characters." To help readers understand and master knowledge and materials related to character usage, the appendix includes personal name characters, Japanese character abbreviations, and common Japanese measure words. For quick reference to the desired characters, the book is arranged in the order of the Japanese (Gojūon) based on pronunciation, and a "Stroke Index" is also provided for easy lookup.