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| Author: Jack Halpern
Publisher: Kodansha International
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $22.23
You Save: $17.72 (44%)
New (35) Used (12) from $20.65
Avg. Customer Rating:  48 reviews
Sales Rank: 72493
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1060
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 7 x 5.1 x 1.7
ISBN: 4770028555
Dewey Decimal Number: 495
EAN: 9784770028556
ASIN: 4770028555
Publication Date: February 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081202223058T
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great Tool to use February 25, 2008
I was amazed to see all the great tools this dictionary has and a great way to start in the world of Kanji, eventhough I think a person that knows a lot can still use it as a great tool
BUY THIS BOOK! November 28, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My reason:
I am a novice at the Japanese language, but the SKIP system in this book allows me -- who had never before used any Kanji dictionary -- to find Kanji in mere seconds, accurately every time.
My story:
I visited Japan for the first time in my life last week. I had been studying elementary Japanese in college for just one semester and am proficient at reading and writing hirigana and katakana, with a very rudimentary spoken vocabulary. I actually thought this would be enough for a short trip to Japan. I COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE MISTAKEN! I didn't have a Japanese-speaking friend to help me or show me around. I had no tour. It was just me and my wife facing Japan on our own.
Kanji was EVERYWHERE and I was forced to realize on the first day that I wasn't going to get anywhere or even order food well without a Kanji dictionary. I went to the nearest department store (TOBU in Ikebukuro, very near to where I was staying) and found the book store. After quite a lot of slowly walking around, I found the Japanese-English reference section and very carefully checked each of the Kanji dictionaries. All but this one referred to radicals or stroke counts, which I didn't know anything about. I tried to experiment with different dictionaries to find nearby Kanji samples, and found the process slow and very error-prone (in fact, I couldn't even find most of the Kanji that I tried to locate).
It was the front inside cover and the easily-understood SKIP system that made me decide to buy this book over all others. I knew nothing about radicals, but I could count strokes. I experimented with the book right where I was standing -- after all, I was surrounded by Kanji. I very quickly realized that the SKIP system was THE BEST POSSIBLE SOLUTION for someone who knew NOTHING about Kanji. I could tell that SKIP was far superior to the radical/stroke-count systems in the other dictionaries for a beginner like me.
With understanding Kanji being a make-or-break issue for our trip to Japan, THIS BOOK SAVED US! While I was somewhat slow to use it at first, SKIP is very easy to learn and by the third day, I could find any Kanji that I faced in mere seconds. For the rest of the trip, this book was always in my hands. By the end of the trip, I was even recognizing often-used Kanji without having to look them up at all!
I will be studying more Japanese language in college and I can tell that this book will always be with me as I do so.
 It is what it is November 2, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was surprised how easy it was to look up words. Probably not reasonable to read anything of any length. It is a dictionary, what is to be said about it? It is what it is.
Must-have dictionary for beginner-intermediate taking Japanese in classroom November 1, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As a beginning-to-intermediate Japanese language student, I've found the Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary (KLD) to be a fabulous resource. Although I have several kanji dictionaries, this is the only one that I use on a regular basis.
Other reviewers have pointed out many of the advantages. For my part, what I've found to be most helpful are the following features. First, there are several ways to look up any kanji. If you know the pronunciation, you can use that. If not, do it by radical; or by the SKIP method, if you know how to count the strokes. I usually find it easiest to do by pronunciation if known, or by radical if not -- the dictionary is small enough to scan the list of matching kanji by radical pretty easily, and I prefer that to counting strokes. But the key point is that with multiple methods, something will work for everyone.
Second, it has a great visual design. Simply put, this dictionary comes as close to being "beautiful" as any dictionary can. Once you've located the kanji of interest, the clean design makes it easy to find the information you need, and different sets of meanings are broken out very nicely. I usually get pulled in by browsing through the compounds, discovering interesting sets of meanings that are fun to read and think about. This is both educational and fun (at least for me).
Third, it has exact & cleanly presented stroke order for every kanji. Instead of simply numbering the strokes like many dictionaries (if they show stroke order at all), the KLD actually shows them in consecutive sequence, one at a time. So it's very easy to see the exact order and how the kanji is built up. Although stroke order is not that hard to learn, I've been surprised at how often I forget it or get confused, especially in characters with lots of right angles. KLD always sets me straight and is my first place to go for a checkup on order.
All of these features make it perfect as a supplement for classroom learning, because you can easily leverage whatever information you have (e.g., radicals, pronunciation), and fill in the knowledge you need (stroke order, meaning, compounds, etc.)
It is important to note two things that the dictionary does NOT do. It does not provide translation from English; you'll need an English-to-Japanese dictionary to do that. Also, it does not provide any learning method or meaningful didactic sequence of kanji; you'll need either classes or another kanji learning system in order actually to learn the kanji.
If your goal is to supplement another learning system, are at beginner or intermediate stage, and you want to learn kanji better, in more depth, or fill in gaps in your other methods, then I highly recommend KLD. Ganbatte kudasai!
kanji lovers paradise May 12, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
the book arrived quickly and safely. and my boyfriend, who i ordered it for, has all but devoured it already. :) thank you so so very much. :)
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