Greetings, I hope this hasn't been covered in a sticky or something somewhere (I did search and skim) but does anyone have any recommendations for a good electronic Japanese dictionary? I'm at the point where my grammar is coming together nicely, but my vocabulary is still really small. Dictionaries on the computer are great and all, but inconvenient when I'm reading something that's not on my screen.

I'd prefer something where I can use a stylus or something to write the characters, and mp3 recordings of native speakers are also a plus. People seem to like the Canon WordtankV90, but I can't find any.

This is really new territory for me, and they're rather expensive so I don't want to end up with a piece of junk. Here's what I do know I want:

-$0-200, willing to spend more if that's not realistic or there's a "must have" feature on more expensive ones, but I REALLY don't want to go over $300
-Stylus input
-"Jump to" feature, it means you can click words in the definition and jump to the definition of that word for recursive lookups
-Need to be durable, I'd prefer a clamshell form factor to protect the screen
-J-E and J-J dictionaries.

The interface/manuals being in Japanese don't matter to me because I'm pretty decent at figuring that stuff out, been running a Japanese os since day one.

Any suggestions? 有難うございます！

We had a lot of good feedback on this topic in the thread I started over at Something Awful Forums, and the consensus around J-E dictionaries was that 研究者新和英大辞典 is the best.

I am pretty fond of Casio EX-word dictionaries, currently on my second one. With Casio (and other brands), the hardware is mostly irrelevant in determining the price. Stylus input means it'll cost more, colour LCD screen also means higher cost. However, the number of dictionaries included is what really bumps up the price, and the more you pay, the more dictionaries (and the better the dictionaries) you'll get.
e.g. with Casio, the aforementioned 研究者新和英大辞典 only comes on the most expensive models.

My model is from 2010, comes with ジーニアス英和辞典 and プログレッシブ和英中辞典, but not 研究者新和英大辞典. It cost around 27000 yen and has stylus input and a colour screen, plus some dictionaries have audio readout. It is a clamshell, but I bought a semi-hard carry case to keep it safe and dry. Oh, and it has jump.

As for J-J dictionaries, I can't really say whether any is better than any other. The ones you will likely see are 広辞苑, 大辞林, 大辞泉, 明鏡, 新明解国語辞典 and 日本国語大辞典.

If you can view this page (sometimes Something Awful blocks access to non-members), then the post I'm linking to explains dictionaries in more detail:
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthr...t395652100

Thanks for the link, very informative.

I don't understand why these things are so damn expensive. I can certainly do without the color screen and such. Do people tend to buy new dictionaries each year, or just stick with what they got originally? If people upgrade a lot, I don't really mind having last year's model and might be able to find something used.

For kokugo dictionary reviews, this article is the most detailed I've found, though you'll only really know which is best for you if you use them all a lot.

As for denshi jisho, unless you're going to Japan soon, and can get a great deal on one, or will need to do a lot of specialised study (medical, legal, etc) in Japanese, I might look at getting a smartphone with a EPWING reader app instead. I use a Blackberry, and there are others here who use Iphones/Ipod Touches, or Android phones, since you can get a lot of the same features of a denshi jisho in a smartphone, and it's a lot cheaper than importing a denshi jisho (I write this as someone who researched denshi jisho for learning Japanese, before deciding on my smartphone).

EDIT: If you do decide to go with a denshi jisho, SmartImports is the cheapest site I found selling them new. For used, check Ebay.

hurrdurrderp Wrote:Thanks for the link, very informative.

I don't understand why these things are so damn expensive. I can certainly do without the color screen and such. Do people tend to buy new dictionaries each year, or just stick with what they got originally? If people upgrade a lot, I don't really mind having last year's model and might be able to find something used.

Pretty much they charge you for roughly half what it would cost to buy all the books inside, though of course, in reality, you're not going to use all the books inside. I certainly don't use the Cobuild and TOEIC stuff for training for exams in English as a second language, since English is my first language.

I also think the ジーニアス英和大辞典 is a pretty poor value for an English speaker - but it's better than nothing. (It's not that it's a bad dictionary, just that it's very much designed around explaining an English word to a Japanese native speaker and very cumbersome for an English speaker trying to find the right Japanese equivalent for what they want to say.)

I've been using the same dictionary for 5 years now... 'IC Dictionary SII' and I'm vaguely thinking of upgrading in another year. If I upgrade I'll spend whatever I need to in order to get the good dictionaries included.

You really don't need to upgrade them any more often than you would 'upgrade' a paper dictionary - once a decade or the like to keep up with changes in the language. (Dictionaries aren't exactly up-to-the-minute with the latest trendiest terms anyway.)

I got the one I did purely because it was half-price as a discontinued model so it was a little old even when I bought it.

I'm getting pretty good at finding Kanji without any cumbersome pages of characters with the same radical though, because I can search by listing off readings of the components in a character. I am a little reluctant to buy online because there's all these little details that are hard to understand without your hands on the device.

The most popular model is what you seemed to have described, however the compact or standard models are much cheaper. The jump feature is now common since at least 2006. Casio is the most popular, but Seiko(SII), Sharp and Canon have good models. All the current Casio's have superb Japanese dictionaries with native pronunciation but only few have extensive English dictionaries. Only SII doesn't have any models with color screens or touch screens. However, I personally prefer SII because of it's Kanji look up (jump) feature. Only, the Casio's have native Japanese pronunciation built-in.

My first recommendation is to save the money to get a good model. The reason is that with the more expensive models they generally have much better English, English-Japanese and Japanese-English dictionaries with sample sentences. I find the sample sentences alone worth the expense. However, all that you really need is a Kanji dictionary and Japanese Language dictionary.

Japanese dictionaries デジタル大辞泉, 広辞苑 第六版, スーパー大辞林
Japanese language 明鏡国語辞典
Kanji dictionary 新漢語林

An alternative would be to consider the current compact models for Canon, Wordtank A501/A502, they don't have a clam stye. Canon Wordtank S501E and S502 available from SmartImports should also be considered. They are considerable less expensive.

Not an expert on this subject. The writer of the Tzure Tsure Kusa blog however agrees with jasdev and puts forward a strong argument for the Kenkyusha New Japanese English Dictionary (5th Edition). Unfortunately s/he states is only available on high end e-dicionaries at eye watering prices : (

Quote:Kenkyusha’s New Japanese English Dictionary (新和英大辞典 第五版) is hands down the best Japanese to English dictionary available either in print or in an electronic dictionary

http://quinlanfaris.com/?cat=17

The link contains a series of useful reviews; the writer is an e-dictionary fan.

I would love to have a e-dictionary. One feature I would like to see is the ability to transfer words I have looked up ( and the relevant information) to a computer, to save having to re enter it for subsequent study.

Well damn, it's starting to look like I'd be better off going without. $500 buys a lot of books, and I'd probably benefit more from reading those than having a 電子辞書. Thanks for the input though. I probably won't go right out and buy one like I was planning, but I'll keep an eye out and know a bit more what to look for now. Maybe I'll be able to snag a deal when they're trying to clear out the 2011s or something.

I have a Casio XD-A9800 which is fantastic, but I use my iPhone a lot more.

Why? Here are a few reasons:
- the iPhone has dictionary apps that can do de-conjugation and text segmentation/lookup for you, so it's a lot faster to find words and to read text.
- I prefer the display of the iPhone (more pixels = more readable kanji)
- the iPhone is always in my pocket, and it can be used one-handed (holding the book in the other hand...)
- you can get a wide variety of dictionaries for the iPhone at reasonable prices (or free) and they are always up-to-date. You can choose from fancy apps or EPWING data files.
- you can get EIJIRO and EDICT on the iPhone, which, while not perfectly reliable, contain many words and expressions that are not in Kenkyusha
- if all dictionaries fail, you can check the word on Wikipedia or Google right from your "dictionary device"
- there is a variety of language learning apps available in the app store (such as Anki)

Of course an iPod Touch with retina display would be just as good, at a fragment of the price (plus you have to pay for dictionaries if you are so inclined). An iPad may also work, but it's not very portable.

The only major feature missing from all the iPhone apps I've found so far is the recorded pronunciations for each word (Google Translate can do TTS-based pronunciation, but it's not always good enough for study). But then again, Japanese pronunciation doesn't hold a lot of surprises....

I also don't have any of the specialized dictionaries (technical terms, etc.) on my iPhone that come with the Casio. If I come across something like that, Google or Wikipedia will tell me what it means anyway.

If for some reason you are dead-set on a denshi jisho, my recommendation is a Casio 9800 or 10000 series model. Handwriting recognition and Kenkyusha are a must-have. The cheaper models come with cheap J->E dictionaries that range in usefulness from bad to "steaming pile of excrement". If you can get the device from Japan, you may want to look for a previous-generation model from left-over stock, which can cost a lot less than the latest-and-greatest.

@kerescen
Thanks for your detailed reply to the e-dictionary question? You have presented a convincing argument for Apple rather than a dedicated dictionary. It got me thinking maybe I should get an i-pod touch, which would also be useful for listening to Japanese downloads on.

I notice that Koichi, (Tofugu.com) came to the same conclusions as you. You can read hhis opinions here

He liked the Code from Tokyo dictionary app called Japanese

I like the price ($20), but for various reasons (such as no sample sentences and no J-J dictionary I thought I would look out for something different.

If you get the time, I would love to know what dictionary apps you use and why. Also, are there any times when you use the Casio XD-A9800 in preference to the i-Phone?

@herrderrderp
I feel your pain... I thought it would be nice to have an e-dictionary but I got scared off by the prices and stopped looking; maybe if I get to Japan and find a second hand one somewhere.

My vote goes to the iPod Touch as well. I got a 2G shortly after it came out, and upgraded to a 4G this year because I couldn't live without it. I make all my flashcards using the vocabulary list feature in one of my dictionaries, so I couldn't manage with a normal 電子辞書.

In addition to all the dictionary options, you can read e-books with iBunko or BookGate, read the news with the likes of 共同ニュース, play games like Final Fantasy 1-3 in Japanese, sync all your Anki decks (this alone is worth half the price of the device if you rely on SRS), find apps for JLPT study, easily do J-J lookups with the built-in dictionary by highlighting a word, and do a whole bunch of non-Japanese stuff to get more bang for your buck.

If price is an issue, then you really can't go wrong with an iPod, since you get so many features for the price. I don't see why it wouldn't meet your dictionary needs unless you're doing specialist reading or translation either.

The "Japanese" app is OK (it has sample sentences, by the way - the "usual" Tanaka corpus), but "Midori" is much better, and it comes with rudimentary (but acceptable) Japanese handwriting recognition. Kotoba is also pretty decent, and it's free...

There is also a Progressive J->E and Daijisen J->J dictionary built right into iOS 5.

The weak point of iPhone is the handwriting recognition. There are three approaches:
- Use the traditional Chinese handwriting recognition that comes with the OS. It works great for the Kanji that match the traditional characters, but you can't enter Hiragana and some of the characters.
- Use the built-in handwriting recognition of an app (such as Midori, Daijirin, Daijisen), which are more-or-less OK, but this solution is limited to a single application
- Use the "Handwriting Notes" application that has a fantastic handwriting recognition engine, but you have to copy/paste from the app to a dictionary, or use the built-in dictionary in the OS.

I currently use Midori and the built-in Progressive dictionary as a "first line of defense", then fall back to iDict+ that has a bunch of EPWING databases installed. If that fails I check HandyEijiro and then go to Google/Wikipedia as a last resort.

The reason I don't use iDict+ for EDICT lookups is that it doesn't do "de-conjugation", so a bit more guessing is involved than if I use Midori.

I had an opportunity to try the dedicated Daijisen and Daijirin apps, which are pretty cool (and come with pretty good handwriting recognition), but iDict+ (or EBPocket) can search multiple dictionaries all at once, which is more convenient.

I use the Casio when I want to hear a correct pronunciation, or when I'm reading something that is overflowing with unknown kanji words without furigana. It is faster to scribble kanji with a stylus than to use the iPhone, but you need a desk and two hands. This doesn't happen a lot though, because usually I tend to read things with furigana or materials that aren't too far above my level so I can often guess the reading.

To be honest it is dependent on the reasons why you want an Electronic Dictionary. There are various alternative with their own advantages, and disadvantages. if you have an iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad it would be best to just get the dictionaries that you want and add them to the device.

I use my electronic dictionary everyday. So, I have it with me most of the time.

I originally used the one that was built into my cellphone until I lost it. It seems more common for cellphones to have built in electronic dictionaries in Japan, with the ability check words from other content in the dictionaries.

I wonder how the various dictionaries on the iPhone or iPad with external content, such as an email or ebook.

@kerecsen
Thanks for all the info. I found it very useful and I am sure others will as well.

Edit: Added details below.

@kerecsen
I see that you (and others) discussed dictionary apps in the string given below. I'll add this link so that people can take a look, if they are interested. Thanks once again.

http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?p...#pid135064

I'll also add this: Official Midori Site

Here's a way to save that $500. Look up all your new words online. Write them on a piece of paper, take it with you and commit them to memory. Old fashioned, but it works....and leaves you $500 richer.

looking up stuff online can be slow though, and isn't necessarily portable. A decent dictionary needn't cost $500 (unless you're a professional translator or something). Just like with all technology, if you insist on having the absolute best you pay a lot more for a small improvement that you probably don't need. I picked up a CASIO ex-word with a handful of E-E, J-J, J-E, E-J dictionaries and pen for inputting kanji for less than 15,000 yen (without even shopping around). And I bought a card loaded with chinese-J, J-C dictionaries for it for some like 5000 yen. The amount of time you'll save having access to a decent electronic dictionary makes it worth every penny in the long run. It's great to have something sitting open on your desk with a keyboard and pen for input, so you don't need to be always switching tabs etc. I really think the best advice I can give to anyone studying a language, is to go and invest in a decent dictionary.

I like to cover all of my bases. Electronic dictionary is what I usually use, but mine is 4 years old, they keyboard is dying, and the dictionary is starting to get out of date. (Time to get a new one, probably.) They're handy, and have a nice form factor. I don't like to be without one, so I'll probably drop 25,000 yen on a good one soon.

But I also use an EPWING reader on my Nexus One/Xoom tablet (EB Pocket is awesome, but Droidwing is great, too). With the ATOK keyboard and HanWriting IME, I can cover for when I only have my phone/tablet with me. ATOK really makes a hell of a keyboard for Android. Dunno if it's still JP only, but it's gorgeous... although the space key is kinda small.

But the take-away is with an EPWING reader, you search everything all at once, instead of having to open up a bunch of apps one at a time. That's what bugged me about my old iPhone 3g. Opening up 3-4 apps to search the same word over and over again. Dunno if it's any different now.

The other reason I like EPWING readers is that I can add instant web searches to my list of dictionaries to search for each word I look up. So if it doesn't show up in any of my dictionaries (very rare), I can just click on the auto-generated link to look it up in yahoo.co.jp's dictionary, ALC's dictionary, or just Google it.

They make EPWING readers for jailbroken i-thingys, so you can find one of those if that's what floats your boat, or you can just get one on the Android Market if you get an Android thingy.

edit: clarity.

Omoishinji Wrote:I wonder how the various dictionaries on the iPhone or iPad with external content, such as an email or ebook.

If you've updated to iOS5, you tap and hold the word for a second and a little menu pops up with options コピー・辞書, which allows you to go to the built-in J-J dictionary and come back with a couple of taps. Other apps like iBunko and Anki already had some support for convenient switching to certain dictionaries. Personally, I don't find it that much of a pain to copy and paste, since I always have my main dictionary open. Certain dictionaries can break down entire sentences, so it can be quite economic at times.

I might be the only person who doesn't like ATOK, it could just be that I am using it wrong.

I have been trying to look into EPWING for commercial dictionaries but haven't been able to find any detailed information on it in English. Question: Does EPWING fully support wildcards?

Omoishinji Wrote:I might be the only person who doesn't like ATOK, it could just be that I am using it wrong.

I have been trying to look into EPWING for commercial dictionaries but haven't been able to find any detailed information on it in English. Question: Does EPWING fully support wildcards?

You might want to look at the the koohii forum's Google Group on where to find them. As for wildcards, I'm not sure. I usually use the "Begining with/前方一致"　or "Ending with/後方一致" searches but I think "Full text search" mode might.

rich_f Wrote:They make EPWING readers for jailbroken i-thingys, so you can find one of those if that's what floats your boat, or you can just get one on the Android Market if you get an Android thingy.

edit: clarity.

EB Pocket Pro/Free have been available on the iOS app store for a couple of years now, there's no need to jailbreak. The iPhone version has a prettier options/setup UI and has a few more options like Evernote integration; aside from that they're pretty much identical in use. It also seems to get updated more frequently than the Android one.

How did you get ATOK by the way? Are you in Japan?

I was thinking, say I get one of the cheaper 電子辞書 and find the dictionaries it comes with are total junk, can I purchase an sd card or something with a good dictionary on it? I don't anticipate needing the 150 dictionaries and advanced functions some of these more expensive models have, and figure I may save some money going a la carte.

Both my Casio 電子辞書 came with microSD card slots for adding in extra dictionaries at a later date, so yeah. The price of these makes me think it's almost worth just paying the extra for a more expensive model of 辞書 however.

If you bought a CASIO with an SD slot you can pick up the 新和英大辞典 for about £80... probably cheaper second hand. I have this dictionary as standard on my Casio XD-A9800 (which was VERY expensive when i bought it), and I rely on this dictionary 99% of the time. Theres a reason they call it the "green goddess". It's J > E though, and not the other way around.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/offer-listing...dition=new

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Just to add, I really disagree with all the stick that Codefromtokyo's Japanese app gets. I don't have midori, but since i have no issues with 'Japanese' I don't see the merit in splashing the cash out again. Japanese has NEVER crashed or bugged out on me. Kotoba, in my humble opinion, whilst free, is junk. But thats just my opinion, and there'll be hundreds more here who'll sing its praise.

From what I understand that the only real difference are the dictionaries included. Most models have adequate dictionaries, and the more expense ones are only really worth it if you are using it in a professional capacity. The only place where I have noticed a great difference is the use of Dictionary of English in the more expensive models, and English learners in the less expensive models.

Even on the cheapest Electronic Dictionaries the dictionaries are very good. The difference will be the number of dictionaries, and the size of the content in those dictionaries. That includes the number of word definitions, and for the Japanese-English or English-Japanese the number of sample sentences.

@Bokusenou I mean like "き？ん" so that I can find words such as きあん or きいん.