Kodansha's Furigana Japanese Dictionary: Japanese-English English-Japanese

Rating:
Summary: Not worth it.
Review: This dictionary sux. Frustratingly few entries, even lacking a lot of basic vocabulary, really rather useless. You'll outgrow it very quickly. On top of that, the dictionary is rather bulky when compared to what's actually in it. My suggestion: spend a few more dollars and get a better dictionary.

Rating:
Summary: Well organized
Review: This dictionary was recommended by my son's college professor in japanese. He has used it for three months and finds it to be very well organized, easy to use, and full of just the kinds of information he needs.

Rating:
Summary: For the serious student
Review: This is the dictionary for those who wish to seriously study Japanese with as little Romanji as possible. The sorting by hiragana/katakana is perfect for forcing the early student (like myself) to work strictly with the kana and as little as possible with Romanji. I can't speak for more advanced students... but I'm sure they already have a favorite dictionary. For kanji look-up, I'd suggest NTC's New Japanese-English Character Dictionary (ISBN: 0844284343).

Rating:
Summary: Needs expansion
Review: This isn't a bad dictionary. However, like Kodansha's separate Japanese-English and English-Japanese dictionaries, the vocabulary contained within is rather limited. It seems more that Kodansha is marketing this book with the "novelty" of being written in the kana instead of romaji. While that is very useful, a lacking vocabulary serves only to hinder the purpose of this book. If you're at the ability level to need to use a Kana dictionary, I would recommend buying an actual Japanese dictionary. If you go to the right place, Kodansha Japan's dictionaries are much better and more worth your money.

Rating:
Summary: No dictionary is enough by itself; buy a kanji dic, too.
Review: Unless you're reading material targeted for Japanese children, you will always need to face kanji in printed Japanese. If you want to read anywhere away from you computer (where you can easily use an electronic dic), you need a printed kanji dic, either one with kana readings (Kodansha's essential kanji dic) or one with romanji readings (Kodansha's Kanji learner's dic)

Kanji dictionaries contain only words written in kanji, so, anyway, you'll also need a dic that covers kana-only words and that is ordered by kana alphabetic order, and this dictionary here is a good one. By the way, this one is kana/kanji only. First learn the kana. If you don't feel that you need the kana because you're only going to stay in Japan for a short time and want to concentrate in the spoken language, look for a romanized dic, instead.

So, you will always need at least:
-two dictionaries for reading or
-one for listening comprehension.

If you're serious about learning Japanese (not just a short time tourist) and want to develop writing abilities, avoid romanji (Japanese written in English letters) at all costs. Learn the kana.

This dictionary is not complete. Then, if you can't afford (or find... in fact, I couldn't find any) a more complete dictionary, get yourself a free electronic one to complement this one. Jim Breen's EDICT database together with a dictionary search program like Kanjibrowze will be just fine. This combination is a powerful one: When you're reading on the Net, you can use the electronic dic only. However, it does not provide any hint in word usage, so use Kodansha's furigana dic when writing in Japanese or for further understanding.

No dictionary can substitute a language course, unless you're an absolute genius and have the ability to decipher completely unknown grammar patterns and verb/adjective inflections. Also take into account that unlike european languages, Japanese usually has no space between words, so you really need to know at least the basics of grammar in order to be able to use any dictionary.

Rating:
Summary: A good writing companion for early intermediate students.
Review: While many people bemoan it's (granted) limited vocabulary, the one thing that made me jump on this dictionary the moment I saw it is its inclusion of particle usage and examples for so many verbs. Other dictionaries may have more words, and be better suited as reading companions, but this is the only one that tells me which particle I need to use for one particular meaning of a verb. It's actually making a difference in my grades, and makes free writing assignments much faster.
Although I can see myself outgrowing this dictionary's vocabulary in a couple of years, it has already become an indispensible writing aid, much easier to use than referring to numerous other individual guides to kanji, verbs, particles, usage et cetera.
Incidentally, the furigana, while resembling "authentic" Japanese texts, is not that unique. I have seen other dictionaries that are listed by kanji, followed by pronounciation guides in hiragana or katakana that serve the same purpose. And this edition's furigana are *very* small - not for the far-sighted!
Overall, a great writing companion. Keep the big ones at home for reference and take this one to the coffee shop to do your homework.