Japanese encyclopedias
- For a general history of the encyclopedia, please refer to Encyclopedia.
In Template:Ll, encyclopedias are known as hyakka jiten （百科事典), which literally means "book of a hundred subjects," and can trace their origins to the early [Heian period]], in the ninth century. Two major encyclopedias are currently available in the Japanese language: the Encyclopedia Nipponica, published by Shogakukan, and the Sekai Dai-Hyakka Jiten, an encyclopedia compiled by the publishing house Heibonsha. A Japanese Wikipedia is also available.
The History of Japanese Encyclopedias
The antecedents of the modern Japanese encyclopedia date from the ancient period and the middle ages. Encyclopedic books were imported from China from an early date, but the first proto-encyclopedia produced in Japan was the 1000-scroll Hifuryaku (秘府略), compiled in 831 upon the emperor's orders by Shigeno no Sadanushi (滋野貞主) and others, only fragments of which survive today. The first truly Japanese-style encyclopedia is said to be Minamoto no Shitagô’s (源順) 10-scroll work, Wamyōruijūshō (倭名類聚抄) (literally, “categorization by Japanese name on paper”), which was written in the ancient Japanese syllabary system of man'yōgana and contained entries arranged by category. In 970, Minamoto Tamenori (源為憲) wrote Kuchizusami(口遊) for the purpose of educating Fujiwara Shigenobu (藤原誠信); this work was the forerunner of the modern children’s encyclopedia. During the thirteenth century, an 11-scroll book appeared on the origins of things, Chiribukuro (塵袋) (literally, “rubbish bag”), and its innovative question-and-answer format was much imitated throughout the medieval period.
In the seventeenth century, the ''Sancai Tuhui'' (三才図会; Sansai Zue in Japanese) (literally, "illustrated book of the 'Three Powers,' i.e., heaven, earth and man"), a fourteen-part, 106-scroll illustrated encyclopedia published in Ming China in 1609, entered Japan. In 1712, emulating the Sancai Tuhui, Terajima Ryōan published the Wakan Sansai Zue (和漢三才図会) ("illustrated book of the three powers in Japan and China"), the first Japanese illustrated encyclopedia. Written in classical Chinese (the language of scholarship throughout East Asia at the time), the book reflected the outlook of its day with such fantastical entries as "The Country of the Immortals" (不死国; fushi koku) and "The Land of the Long-Legged People" (長脚国; naga-ashi koku). Its logical presentation, topical divisions, and discussion of alternative explanations for the same phenomena, however, anticipated the modern encyclopedia.
During Japan's Civilization and Enlightenment Movement (文明開化: bunmei kaika) during the Meiji Period, the westernizer Nishi Amane (西周) compiled Japan's first modern encyclopedia, the Hyakugaku renwa (百学連環). Beginning in 1873, the Ministry of Education sponsored the translation of Chambers' Information for the People into Japanese under the name Hyakka Zensho (百科全書, the "Comprehensive Encyclopedia"), which was completed in the 1880s. Later, the Ministry of Temples and Shrines sponsored the compilation by Nishimura Shigeki (西村茂樹) and others of another encyclopedic work, the Koji ruien (古事類苑), which was finally completed in 1914. The publishing house Sanseido published its ten-volume encyclopedia, the Nihon Hyakka Daijiten (日本百科大辞典, the "Great Japan Encyclopedia") between 1908 and 1919, and Heibonsha published a 28-volume work, the Dai-Hyakka Iiten (大百科事典, the "Great Encyclopedia") between 1931 and 1934. The Dai-Hyakka Jiten was the first publication to use the characters 事典 (jiten) rather than 辞典 (jiten) to represent the word "encyclopedia," starting the convention whereby 事典 is used to mean "encyclopedia" and while 辞典 is used to mean "dictionary."
After World War Two, Heibonsha responded to Japan's new internationalization by publishing the Sekai Dai-Hyakka Jiten (世界大百科事典, the "Great World Encyclopedia") in 32 volumes, between 1955 and 1959. Shogakukan then published the nineteen-volume Encyclopedia Japonica, Japan's first full-color reference work, between 1967 and 1972. Between 1970 and 1974, Gakushu Kenkyusha published a 21-volume encyclopedia, the Gurando Gendai Hyakka Jiten (グランド現代百科事典, the "Great Modern Encyclopedia"). In 1974 and 1975, a 30-volume Japanese version of the Encyclopedia Brittanica, the Buritanica Kokusai Hyakka Jiten (ブリタニカ国際百科事典, the "Brittanica International Encyclopedia"), was also published in Japan. In 1984, Heibonsha returned with a sixteen-volume compilation, the Dai-Hyakka Jiten (大百科事典, the "Great Encyclopedia"), and Shogakukan published a 25-volume encyclopedia, the Nihon Dai-Hyakka Zensho (日本大百科全書, the "Japan Comprehensive Encyclopedia").
Major Japanese print encyclopedias
Encyclopedia Nipponica
Encyclopedia Nipponica (日本大百科全書, Nihon Dai–Hyakka Zensho, literally the “Japan Comprehensive Encyclopedia”) is an encyclopedia published by Shogakukan in Japan. It is published in 5 formats: traditional book form, CDROM, e-book, Internet, and as an i-Mode service. Both the Internet and i-Mode versions require payment to use.
Sekai Dai-Hyakka Jiten
The Sekai Dai–Hyakka Jiten (世界大百科事典, literally the “World Comprehensive Encyclopedia”) is an encyclopedia compiled by the Japanese publisher Heibonsha. It is published in three formats: traditional book form, CDROM, and Internet. The online version is called the Network Encyclopedia (ネットで百科, Netto-de Hyakka) and requires payment to use.
Heibonsha has also compiled a smaller encyclopedia called the Mypedia (マイペディア, Maipedia), published in 5 formats: a single-volume book form, CDROM, electronic dictionary, memory card for PDA’s, and Internet.
Online encyclopedias
Wikipedia
The Japanese Wikipedia has about 150,000 articles (as of October 13, 2005).
Others
Directories only:
- Yahoo’s directory of online encyclopedias that are free of charge to use
- Dictionary of Multimedia and Internet — a directory of online dictionaries and encyclopedias that are free of charge to use.