Rating: 
Summary: Don't even begin to learn Japanese without it
Review: Any learner of Japanese needs a decent furigana dictionary. Kodansha is in the business of publishing the best Japanese learning aids available, and it only makes sense that their furigana dictionary is the one to buy.A student of the Japanese language is wasting time with romaji. The sooner you learn the kana, the better. A good furigana dictionary serves a dual purpose of familiarizing you with the kana, as you need to know it in order to look up words, as well as being a functional dictionary. While too basic for advanced students, the number of words should be sufficient for beginner and intermediate students. Of course, a bound dictionary will never be able to compete with an electronic dictionary for number of words and convenience, but the arduous process of looking up words the old fashioned way seems to help with retention, as well as mastering the kana. Even absolute beginners should walk into their first Japanese class with this dictionary in their pocket.
Rating:
Summary: Don't even begin to learn Japanese without it
Review: Any learner of Japanese needs a decent furigana dictionary. Kodansha is in the business of publishing the best Japanese learning aids available, and it only makes sense that their furigana dictionary is the one to buy. A student of the Japanese language is wasting time with romaji. The sooner you learn the kana, the better. A good furigana dictionary serves a dual purpose of familiarizing you with the kana, as you need to know it in order to look up words, as well as being a functional dictionary. While too basic for advanced students, the number of words should be sufficient for beginner and intermediate students. Of course, a bound dictionary will never be able to compete with an electronic dictionary for number of words and convenience, but the arduous process of looking up words the old fashioned way seems to help with retention, as well as mastering the kana. Even absolute beginners should walk into their first Japanese class with this dictionary in their pocket.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent for beginners
Review: For those people who really want to learn Japanese and have a beginner level, this dictionary is a good acquisition.
It has the needed words for a beginner student with very useful examples and contains the furigana system which helps to introduce kanji in a great way.
Rating:
Summary: Quite useful, but don't get rid of your Japanese friends...
Review: Found the book while I was in Japan. I had been looking a dictionary that didn't do as much hand-holding as the others (ie. used kana instead of romaji). Came across this one and was instantly drawn to it because it broke out all words by spelling first, then provided the kanji WITH PRONOUNCIATION (hence furigana) for each. One of the most annoying things I've found in my study of Japanese so far is the number of possible pronounciations that each kanji character has. People before me have stated that the book might not help when trying to find the definition of arcane characters found in literature, but I think that's beyond the scope of this dictionary. I wouldn't expect to find words like "vapid", "torpor", or "interminable" in a book like this, and you won't - I just checked. It will however give you a leg up if you buy it early in your studies. Happy hunting!
Rating: 
Summary: Good, with weaknesses
Review: I am an expat who majored in Japanese at university in Canada. I now live in Japan; I have been here 14 months. I would rate myself at the low-intermediate level. I have bought at least three other dictionaries. All the others were either in romaji or in kanji. The romaji ones meant I had to go to a kana/kanji dictionary to find the correct writing and the ones written in kanji/kana would not have the furigana above so I would have to go to a kanji dictionary to find the pronunciation. It was to counter those problems that I bought this book. In actual fact I bought it about 2 weeks ago and have found weaknesses already. The good point is obviously the furigana. It also has a verb/adjective conjugation section, which might be helpful for some, but which I found deficient as I did not see the passive, causative and causative-passive forms. It also has a section on numerals and counters whcih I found useful and interesting. The main bad point I have found is this: I take a weekly class where we are given intermediate level 2 page texts to read. This book purports to have 33,000 words in it. Yet already in the course of trying to look up the meanings of words from my reading assignment I have discovered numerous words not listed in the book. Is this because my teacher is giving me texts with esoteric and rare words in them?...Or is it because the authors left out a lot of basic vocabulary that should have been included?
Rating:
Summary: Extremely useful
Review: I bought this dictionary not knowing what to expect. However, the very first time I used it I knew I had made an excellent buy. Because of the example sentences that come with many of the entries, Kondasha's Furigana Dictionary is invaluable for those who have memorized a lot of vocabulary, but do not know how to use it in context. For those who already have some knowledge of kanji, the dictionary helps retain their pronunciation, since furigana are printed above each character.
I am glad I bought this dictionary. I am sure you will enjoy it too.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful dictionary for those in the intermediate years
Review: I have found this dictionary extremely useful as an intermediate Japanese student.
Rating:
Summary: They need to expand this one!
Review: I have to agree with the reviewer who said that word coverage could be better - but, on the whole, this is the best dictionary I've come across, mainly because of the furigana. The example sentences are also quite good. More entries and perhaps in-depth definitions of certain complex key words would make this just about unbeatable.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book and things will begin to click.
Review: I think this handsome volume is ideal for advanced beginner/intermediate Japanese student (I myself am in this category). Others here have complained about limited vocabulary but I've found it to be sufficient. When I'm talking on the phone with Japanese friends, I keep it handy and it has seldom let me down. It also comes in handy when trying to write a letter in Japanese because most entries include multiple example sentences. What's really meaningful about this dictionary is that it can function as a kind of Rosetta Stone for those struggling to connect spoken Japanese, phonetic characters (kana), and the Chinese charaters used by Japanese readers (Kanji). The advanced beginner will have learned the phonetic alphabet and can find Japanese words organized by kana spellings, then be able to look at that word's kanji. For this reason, absolute beginners should only buy this book if they are committed to at least a year of learning (otherwise it will probably end up on a shelf and will go picked over at yard sales). If you are in the absolute beginner category and only need enough Japanese to get along on a short trip to Japan or to decode japanimation films- I'd recommend the Random House paperback dictionary. It's cheap and easy to read. But for those who want to take their Japanese learning to the next level: this stately and stout blue-cloth hardback will no doubt be a good companion. Well worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful dictionary for those in the intermediate years
Review: I was rather disappointed with this book for how much it costs.
All entries are VERY detailed, giving great care to example sentences and explanations. I like the kana order, and the furigana. I love the binding, you won't find a more durable book than this no matter how hard you look. The problem is, it has a VERY limited amount of entries.. Anything other than the very basic of the basic words, you will NOT find in this dictionary. My random house dictionary that I purchased when I first started learning Japanese has far more entries, and is about a quarter of the price.
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