Shin meikai kokugo jiten 新明解国語辞典 is a popular Japanese dictionary published by Sanseido. It is one of the most popular dictionaries among high-school students.
The first edition went on the market in 1972, and a total of 20 million copies have been sold so far. This comes out to an average of 300,000 copies per year. This is a startling figure in a market where a book of general content is considered a best-seller when it sells 100,000 copies.
The key to Shin meikai kokugo jiten’s appeal is that it is enjoyable to read. In addition to general meanings and interpretations, it includes commentary based on the experiences and opinions of its authors and editors. These commentaries are at times philosophical and humorous.
Let’s compare entries!
恋愛 [れんあい ren’ai]
The first edition went on the market in 1972, and a total of 20 million copies have been sold so far. This comes out to an average of 300,000 copies per year. This is a startling figure in a market where a book of general content is considered a best-seller when it sells 100,000 copies.
The key to Shin meikai kokugo jiten’s appeal is that it is enjoyable to read. In addition to general meanings and interpretations, it includes commentary based on the experiences and opinions of its authors and editors. These commentaries are at times philosophical and humorous.
Let’s compare entries!
恋愛 [れんあい ren’ai]
Common meanings found in other dictionaries Wrote:Love between a man and a woman, or the feeling one feels in such a situation.
Meanings or interpretations given in the Shin meikai kokugo jiten Wrote:To feel an affection for an individual of the opposite sex so intense that one would not regret sacrificing anything for that person; the person is constantly on one’s mind, prompting the wish to always be together and share a private world; one feels happy when that desire is satisfied and anxious or depressed should the slighted doubt about that person’s affections arise.世の中 [よのなか yononaka]
Common meanings found in other dictionaries Wrote:The realm of human interaction.
The world (cf. seken). Society.
Meanings or interpretations given in the Shin meikai kokugo jiten Wrote:The environment of adult society in which people must make their way through life according to the circumstances (fate) in which they find themselves. Generally, it has contradictions arising from complex human relations and changes occurring from political/economic activity.読書 [どく しょ dokusho]
It can be said that there is an intermingling of aspects that can be tolerated and aspects that arouse anger and disappointment.
Common meanings found in other dictionaries Wrote:Reading.
Meanings or interpretations given in the Shin meikai kokugo jiten Wrote:Reading, unlike that for research or entrance-exam studies, that momentarily removes one from immediate realities, allowing one’s mind to roam in unknown worlds, and helping one to develop a mature understanding of life. (Lolling in bed reading comic books and leafing through magazines on the train are not considered dokusho in the true sense of the term.)Click here to download The sixth edition—the newest—of the best-selling Japanese dictionary in Japan.
