Eijirō

History

The Eijirō project was started by a translator (who wishes to remain anonymous) as a way to keep track of his English vocabulary. Noting the favorable reception it received when he shared it with his friends, he started the Electronic Dictionary Project, a wiki-like structure that allowed for and even encouraged contributions to the dictionary. This resulted in a comprehensive database that grew to include over 1.66 million entries in the fourth edition.^[1]

Characteristics

Although commonly termed a dictionary, Eijirō differs from other Japanese dictionaries such as the Kōjien by giving examples the same weight as definitions. While this may result in less accurate definitions on a one-to-one basis, many translators use Eijirō specifically for this purpose, as this structure allows for a more nuanced understanding of the word and accounts for its appearance in commonly used sayings. In addition, the extremely high entry count (approximately 1.66 million entries in the fourth edition, as compared to 560,000 in the third edition of Webster's Dictionary^[2]) virtually guarantees the inclusion of new and obscure words.

Access

Eijirō can be purchased online as either a CD-R or downloadable dictionary file for a comparatively low price. Eijirō was first released in 2002,^[3] and it has since gone through three revisions.

In addition, an online version of Eijirō is provided free of charge through the SpaceALC Japanese portal.

Notes

External Links and References

Eijirō Homepage (Japanese)
- What is Eijirō? (Japanese)
Eijirō Homepage (English Version)
SpaceALC (Japanese) – a portal site which includes an online dictionary based on Eijirō.
- Pocket Eijirō (Japanese)
The Story Behind Eijiro – A first-hand blog entry outlining the history of Eijirō

Dictionaries of Japanese

Monolingual dictionaries

Classical Japan	Tenrei Banshō Meigi Shinsen Jikyō Wamyō Ruijushō Ruiju Myōgishō Iroha Jiruishō

Medieval Japan	Jikyōshū Kagakushū Onkochishinsho Wagokuhen Setsuyōshū Rakuyōshū

Modern Japan	Kokushi Daijiten Shin Meikai kokugo jiten Dai Kan-Wa Jiten Kōjien Sanseido Kokugo Jiten Nihon Kokugo Daijiten Nihon Kingendaishi Jiten Daijirin Nihongo Daijiten Daijisen

Bilingual dictionaries

Print	Nippo Jisho Diego Collado's Grammar of the Japanese Language Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English Dictionary Nichi-Ran jiten The Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary Dictionary of Sources of Classical Japan

Electronic	Wordtank EDICT WWWJDIC Gjiten Kiten Eijirō Wordtank Wordtank G50 Moji

List of Japanese dictionaries

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