Tag Umbrella

The Rainbow Japanese-English Dictionary

Bran

General Details

Title: 小学生のためのレインボー和英辞典　(The Rainbow Japanese-English Dictionary)
Volumes: 1
Language: Japanese
Publisher: Gakken
Year: 1990
Pages: 272

The 小学生のためのレインボー和英辞典 (literally: The Rainbow Japanese English Dictionary for Elementary School Students) is a small, but immensely colorful and cute bilingual dictionary. According to the introductory material, it includes 2,535 main entries and approximately 3,400 total words. There are a large number of themed guides to conversation ("Various Greetings") and details ("Fish", "Insects", etc).

Each entry presents the headword in kana and, where applicable, kanji and then provides a simple English definition. Many entries are accompanied by a sample phrase or sentence, and 95%+ of them are accompanied by an illustration. There is a katakana guide to pronunciation above the English with the word stress bolded. One thing I particularly like about this dictionary is that it knows its target audience - if I were to ask my kid what word she wanted to look up in a dictionary, I know exactly what sorts of things she would pick: gas, butt, poop... if it's in a Captain Underpants book, it's also in here.

There are a few fun bonus-features in this dictionary. On certain pages, the lower-left-hand corner of the left page features a blue lizard in a baseball hat with the text "Where am I?" - meaning that a smaller version of that blue lizard is hidden somewhere on the two-page spread. In the lower-right-hand corner are a series of images which, in a slowed-down flip-book fashion, tell the story of a family's ill-fated trip to the beach and shark encounter. This is truly the sort of work that all children's dictionaries should aspire to emulate.

Sample Entries

I attempt to look up the same entries in every reference work featured on this site, to allow for a fair comparison: "Saint Louis" and "umbrella." Saint Louis does not appear in this book (which makes sense, given its limited scope and target audience), but "umbrella" appears on page 60:

かさ　傘 an umbrellaアン　アンブレラ

Kids Japonica (2013)

Bran

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】　竹たけの骨組ほねぐみに紙かみを張はり、油あぶらをひいて柄えをつけた和風わふうの雨傘あまがさ。みのなどの昔むかしながらの雨具あまぐに代かわって、傘かさが利用りようされるようになったのは江戸時代えどじだいのこと。植物しょくぶつの種子しゅしからとった油あぶらを白しろい和紙わしに塗ぬってつくられたのが始はじまりで、現在げんざいもあまに油ゆなどが使つかわれている。和傘わがさともよばれ、番傘ばんがさ、蛇じゃの目傘めがさなどの種類しゅるいがある。

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.

Challenge Elementary School Dictionary and Kanji Dictionary (2015)

Bran

General Details

Title: チャレンジ小学国語辞典 第六版(Challenge Elementary School Dictionary 6th Edition)
Volumes: 1
Language: Japanese
Publisher: Benesse
Year: 2015
Pages: 1,439

Title: チャレンジ小学漢字辞典 第六版(Challenge Elementary School Kanji Dictionary 6th Edtion)
Volumes: 1
Language: Japanese
Publisher: Benesse
Year: 2015
Pages: 1,151 (+ separate 110 page quiz book)

This is a special double-entry, as my copy of these two dictionaries came together as a boxed set (with convenient carry handle). The set includes the compact 6th edition versions of both the チャレンジ小学国語辞典 (Challenge Elementary School Dictionary) and the チャレンジ小学漢字辞典 (Challenge Elementary School Kanji Dictionary); these are also available separately as well as in a larger size. The set came with an instructional DVD and brochure on Fukaya Keisuke's method for dictionary usage (see his website here), which involves overloading the books with post-it-note bookmarks (see the image to the right, taken from Benesse's website). I do like step 4 in the brochure, though: 辞書と友だちになりましょう (become friends with your dictionary).

Both dictionaries feature cartoon angel characters - two which are kids learning how to use the dictionaries, and one like an elderly man, serving as their instructor. There are manga-style guides in the front and back of each dictionary covering dictionary usage and other language topics. The yellow volume, a monolingual Japanese-language dictionary intended for students in 1st through 6th grade, contains a number of special boxes and columns, covering idioms, meaning distinctions, and other linguistic topics. At the bottom of each page is a marginal note, either an idiomatic phrase or a book recommendation. In the back are appendices on sign language, braille, romaji, kanji radicals, seasonal words, time words, measures and counters, classical Japanese, and the 百人一首, hyakkunin isshu, or one hundred people, one poem each. There are some posters included with the dictionary which include the elementary school kanji characters as well as the poems contained in the hyakkunin isshu. All kanji have furigana to assist with pronunciation. Beyond the angel characters, who appear in the special boxes and columns, the illustrations are sparse, but well-done when they appear, serving to illustrate specifics or classifications.

The blue volume, the kanji dictionary, presents information on 3,045 kanji characters and the compounds and idiomatic phrases they form. Like the other volume, this one features special columns and info boxes on the history of kanji, notes on specific characters, and homophone distinction. There are indexes for looking up specific characters by pronunciation or by stroke count, and the margins of the book feature the kanji radicals for finding characters that way. The dictionary comes with a laminated double-sided card which gives instruction for finding characters these three different ways. The appendices in the back of the dictionary cover the history of kanji characters, the system of radicals, how kanji are pronounced, stroke order, unusual readings, and a list of the kanji that students should learn by academic grade. Just like in the yellow volume, all kanji have furigana. A quiz book is included as a separate volume; it features activities involving kanji radicals and compound word formation.

Sample Entries

I attempt to look up the same two entries, "umbrella" and "Saint Louis," in all of the reference works featured on this site, in order to provide a fair basis of comparison between them. "Saint Louis" is not in either of these (nor would it be expected to appear), but I have looked up "umbrella" (傘) in both. The entry for umbrella in the yellow volume - the standard dictionary - is found on page 247:

かさ 【傘】名詞 雨あめ・雪ゆき・日光にっこうなどをよけるために差さすもの。例 日ひ傘。

umbrella [傘] noun A thing held in order to avoid contact with rain, snow, sunlight, etc. example sun-umbrella.

The entry (image to the right) features illustrations showing the Japanese-style umbrella (からかさ, karakasa) and the Western-style umbrella (こうもりがさ).

The kanji character for umbrella, 傘, is not an elementary school character, but the blue volume - the kanji dictionary - is comprehensive enough to include it. It can be found on page 86. As kanji dictionary entries can be a bit challenging to represent in HTML, there is a picture of the entry sandwiched between the transcription and the translation.

𠆢 10画
【傘】
総画12 常用 音 サン 訓 かさ

ならたち 象形 [image of ancient kanji form] ►かさをひらいた形かたちをえがいて、つくった字。「かさ」という意味いみを表あらわす。
意味 かさ。雨あめや日ひざしをふせぐため上うえからおおうもの。かさのような形かたちのもの。例 雨傘あまがさ。日傘ひがさ。落下傘らっかさん。

傘が上につくことば
【°傘下】サンカ 中心ちゅうしんになる人ひとや組織そしきのもとに集あつまり、その指導しどうや支配しはいを受うける立場たちばにあること。　例 大会社だいがいしゃの傘下に入はいる。

傘が下につくことば
雨傘あまがさ　日傘ひがさ　落下傘ラッカサン〔パラシュート〕

[person radical] + 10 strokes
【傘】
Total strokes: 12 General-use On-reading san Kun-reading kasa

Origin Hieroglyph [image of ancient kanji form] ► This character was created by drawing the form of an opened umbrella. It expresses the meaning "umbrella."
Meaning Umbrella. A thing which covers from above to defend against rain and sun. Things with the form of an umbrella. Example Rain-umbrella. Sun-umbrella. Parachute.

Words beginning with 傘
【under the °umbrella of】sanka Being collected under a central figure or organization, from which guidance and control are received. Example Entering under the umbrella of a large corporation.

Words ending with 傘
rain-umbrella　sun-umbrella　parachute