Japanese encyclopedias

In Japanese, encyclopedias are known as "hyakka jiten" ( _ja. 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. Encyclopedic works were published in Japan for well over a thousand years before Japan's first modern encyclopedias were published after Japan's opening to the West, during the Meiji Period (1868-1912). Several encyclopedias have been published in Japan since World War II, including several children's encyclopedias, and two major titles are currently available: the "Encyclopedia Nipponica", published by Shogakukan, and the "Sekai Dai-Hyakka Jiten", compiled by the Heibonsha publishing company. 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" ( _ja. 秘府略), compiled in 831 upon the emperor's orders by Shigeno no Sadanushi ( _ja. 滋野貞主) and others, only fragments of which survive today. The first truly Japanese-style encyclopedia is said to be Minamoto no Shitagō's 10-scroll work, "Wamyō Ruijushō" , which was written in the ancient Japanese syllabary system of "man'yōgana" and contained entries arranged by category. During the 13th century, an 11-scroll book appeared on the origins of things, "Chiribukuro" ( _ja. 塵袋) (literally, “rubbish bag”), and its innovative question-and-answer format was much imitated throughout the medieval period.

In the 17th century, the "Sancai Tuhui" ( _ja. 三才図会; "Sansai Zue" in Japanese) (literally, "illustrated book of the 'Three Powers,' i.e., heaven, earth, and man"), a 14-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" ( _ja. 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 nihongo|"The Country of the Immortals"|不死国|fushi koku and nihongo|"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 nihongo|Civilization and Enlightenment Movement|文明開化|bunmei kaika at the time of the Meiji Period, the westernizer Nishi Amane ( _ja. 西周) compiled Japan's first modern encyclopedia, the "Hyakugaku renwa" ( _ja. 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" ( _ja. 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 ( _ja. 西村茂樹) and others of another encyclopedic work, the "Koji ruien" ( _ja. 古事類苑), which was finally completed in 1914. The publishing house Sanseido published its 10-volume encyclopedia, the "Nihon Hyakka Daijiten" ( _ja. 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 Jiten" ( _ja. 大百科事典, the "Great Encyclopedia"), between 1931 and 1934. The "Dai-Hyakka Jiten" was the first publication to use the characters _ja. 事典 ("jiten") rather than _ja. 辞典 ("jiten") to represent the word "encyclopedia," starting the convention whereby _ja. 事典 is used to mean "encyclopedia" and _ja. 辞典 is used to mean "dictionary."

After World War II, Heibonsha responded to Japan's new internationalization by publishing the "Sekai Dai-Hyakka Jiten" ( _ja. 世界大百科事典, the "Great World Encyclopedia") in 32 volumes, between 1955 and 1959. Shogakukan then published the 19-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" ( _ja. 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 Britannica", the "Buritanica Kokusai Hyakka Jiten" ( _ja. ブリタニカ国際百科事典, the "Britannica International Encyclopedia"), was also published in Japan. In 1984, Heibonsha returned with a 16-volume compilation, the "Dai-Hyakka Jiten" ( _ja. 大百科事典, the "Great Encyclopedia"), and Shogakukan began publishing a 25-volume encyclopedia, the "Nihon Dai-Hyakka Zensho" ( _ja. 日本大百科全書, literally, the "Japan Comprehensive Encyclopedia," but officially known by the English title, "Encyclopedia Nipponica") the same year, finishing in 1989. A second edition was published in 1994. Various children's encyclopedias were also published in the 1950s and 1960s.

Major Currently Available Japanese Print Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia Nipponica

nihongo|"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.

ekai Dai-Hyakka Jiten

The "Sekai Dai–Hyakka Jiten" ( _ja. 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 known as the nihongo|"Network Encyclopedia"|ネットで百科|Netto-de Hyakka.

Heibonsha has also compiled a smaller encyclopedia called the nihongo|"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.

Digital and online encyclopedias

The advent of personal computers and the Internet has brought encyclopedias into the digital age. In addition to the Japanese version of Wikipedia, [http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8 Japanese "Wikipedia"] , which has about 300,000 articles (as of December 15, 2006), the "Encyclopædia Britannica" and Microsoft's "Encarta" both appear on CDROM in Japanese versions.

Other Japan Related Encyclopedias

Though not technically a Japanese encyclopedia because it is not written in Japanese, the Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan is an English-language encyclopedia on Japan, first published by Kodansha in 1983 and supplemented in 1986. An online version of this encyclopedia also exists at http://www.ency-japan.com.

ources

This article relies on articles from "Encyclopedia Nipponica" (1994 ed.) and the Japanese Wikipedia.