General Details
Title: きっずジャポニカ (Kids Japonica)
Volumes: 1
Language: Japanese
Publisher: Shōgakukan
Year: 2013
Pages: 991
The きっずジャポニカ 小学百科大事典 (Kids' Japonica Elementary School Encyclopedia) is a one-volume hardcover encyclopedia published by Shōgakukan, who published the multi-volume Encyclopedia Japonica in the 1970s. This edition is the "revised edition," released in 2013; the original appeared in 2006.
This is a heavy book. According to one of the instructional pages, there are approximately 13,500 entries. Entries average 3-4 sentences. As the obi states, all of the kanji feature furigana, so this book can be used even by first graders. There are lots of color photographs used to illustrate the volume; the introductory text states that there are more than 2,500 photographs and diagrams. There are 96 special full-page entries. Half of these are devoted to Japanese prefectures; others include "animals," "rice," and "Japanese history." In a nod, I'm sure, to the then-newsworthy 2012 Nobel prize awarded to Shinya Yamanaka (mentioned in the entry), there is a full-page entry on "induced pluripotent stem cells" (I had to google this: stem cells that can be harvested from adult cells, and not embryos).
The selection of entries in general sometimes seems a little strange. The obi proclaims in big letters that inside of this one volume are all of the things I want to know ("知りたいことがぜんぶこの1冊に!!") and one of the aims of the encyclopedia is to increase digital literacy, so there are lots of words related to computers, with entries for "Facebook" and "Microsoft" and the "iPhone," but there is nothing around big Japanese tech companies (no Sony) or video games (no Nintendo). There are no entries for toilet or ice cream (I'm trying to put myself in the mindset of a first-grader here), but there is one for "butt" and "refrigerator." It's very hit-or-miss.
The front endpapers feature a map of Japan with all of the prefectures and major islands labelled. The introductory essay is on the differences between 文化 (bunka, or "culture" - which does not have an entry in this book) and 文明 (bunmei, or "civilization" - which does have an entry in this book), and how this book provides the means to study both. There is then a two-page spread on the joy of learning (and the promotion of digital literacy), why this book should be kept in the living room, and suggestions on how to find out more information about topics in this book. There is then a four-page instructional section which has a diagram showing how to use the encyclopedia, a list of map symbols, a list of the special topics, a list of common abbreviations and a guide to the alphabet. The last two pages list the sources for the photographs, and the back endpapers feature a map of the world. The majority of this encyclopedia - 979 pages - is devoted to entries, arranged in standard aiueo order.
Sample Entries
As with all of the reference works featured on this site, I attempted to look up "umbrella" and "Saint Louis." There is no entry for Saint Louis, though it does appear on the world map on the back cover endpapers. There is no entry under the generic word for umbrella (傘), but there is one for the traditional Japanese-style umbrella, so that is what we shall use for the sample entry. 唐傘, or karakasa, can be found on page 218:
からかさ 【唐傘】 竹の骨組みに紙を張り、油をひいて柄をつけた和風の雨傘。みのなどの昔ながらの雨具に代わって、傘が利用されるようになったのは江戸時代のこと。植物の種子からとった油を白い和紙に塗ってつくられたのが始まりで、現在もあまに油などが使われている。和傘ともよばれ、番傘、蛇の目傘などの種類がある。
Paper Umbrella 【唐傘】 A Japanese-style rain-umbrella with oil applied to paper affixed to a bamboo skeletal-frame and attached to a stick. It replaced rain gear used a long time ago like straw raincoasts, coming into use in the Edo period. The umbrella was first made by painting white washi [Japanese paper] with oil taken from plant seeds; flaxseed oil is also used today. This umbrella is also called wagasa [Japanese umbrella]; the bangasa [course oilpaper umbrella] and janomegasa [bullseye-patterned umbrella] are specific types of this umbrella.