The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary answers theurgent need for an easy-to-use kanji dictionary compact enough to be easilycarried around, yet detailed enough to satisfy the practical needs of thebeginning and intermediate learner.

Its basic goal is to give the learner a thorough understanding of kanjiby providing instant access to a wealth of useful information on themeanings, readings, and compounds.

Normally, the learner must memorize numerous compounds as unrelated units. Aunique feature of this dictionary that overcomes this difficulty is the coremeaning, a concise keyword that defines the dominant sense of eachcharacter, followed by detailed character meanings and numerous compoundsthat clearly show how thousands of building blocks are combined to formcountless compound words.

Another unique feature is the System of Kanji Indexing by Patterns(SKIP), an indexing system that enables the user to locate characters asquickly and as accurately as in alphabetical dictionaries.

Modern linguistic theory has been effectively integrated with sophisticatedinformation technology to produce the most useful kanji learner's dictionaryever compiled. For the first time, learners have at their fingertips awealth of information that is linguistically accurate, easy to use, andcarefully adapted to their practical needs.

Features

• 2,230 entry characters, including all the kanji in the Joyo and JinmeiKanji lists
• 41,000 senses for 31,300 words and word elements show how each charactercontributes to the meanings of compounds
• 1,200 homophones with core meanings explain differences between closelyrelated characters
• 386 variant forms used in prewar literature and in names
• 1,945 stroke order diagrams show you how to write each kanji stroke bystroke
• 7,200 character readings, including name readings
• Over 2,000 cross-references and five appendixes give instant access to amass of useful reference data

A totally new system-not found in any other dictionary gives you an indepthunderstanding of kanji. Many unique features make this dictionary a powerfullearning tool.

This is the only kanji learner's dictionary that:

• Provides a revolutionary lookup method (SKIP) for locating entries asquickly as in alphabetical dictionaries
• Offers a choice of five lookup methods and three indices that give eventhe complete beginner instant access to any entry
• Includes frequency statistics published in July 1998 on the basis of amassive corpus of 55 million characters
• Covers all high-frequency compounds based on the official statisticscompiled by the National Language Research Institute
• Includes all kanji compounds appearing in the popular Japanese AchievementTest
• Gives core meanings, a powerful learning aid that provides an instantgrasp of a character's fundamental concept
• Gives precise character meanings that show how thousands of buildingblocks are combined to generate countless compounds
• Lists meanings in a logical order that allows them to be perceived as anintegrated whole
• Is extremely user friendly and visually attractive
• Has a labeling system that gives full guidance on style and usage