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Rating: 
Summary: Best buy for the price
Review: I found this dictionary to be an excellent tool. Couple of things make this dictionary stand out above the others: 1. The accent of each word is marked. Most other dictionaries leave you guessing how the word is accented...is it unaccented (saru), is it accented on the first syllable (SAru), or is it accented on the last syllable (saRU)? This is absolutely necessary. 2. Most words have several examples, and they are given in romanization, written in Japanese, and translated into English. 3. There are illustrations that show items from Japanese culture that need explanation (kadomatsu, ikebana, shooji, koto, etc). 4. Although not a lot, there are some grammatical and syntactical explanations, for example, the difference between 'kaeru' and 'modoru'. This dictionary will serve you well into the advanced stage of Japanese. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Best buy for the price
Review: I found this dictionary to be an excellent tool. Couple of things make this dictionary stand out above the others: 1. The accent of each word is marked. Most other dictionaries leave you guessing how the word is accented...is it unaccented (saru), is it accented on the first syllable (SAru), or is it accented on the last syllable (saRU)? This is absolutely necessary. 2. Most words have several examples, and they are given in romanization, written in Japanese, and translated into English. 3. There are illustrations that show items from Japanese culture that need explanation (kadomatsu, ikebana, shooji, koto, etc). 4. Although not a lot, there are some grammatical and syntactical explanations, for example, the difference between 'kaeru' and 'modoru'. This dictionary will serve you well into the advanced stage of Japanese. Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: not for serious students of Japanese
Review: I'm a beginning student of Japanese [self-taught], and I found this Japanese-English dictionary to be only minimally helpful. Words are written in romaji [the Roman alphabet], which you think is going to be easier than looking up kana or kanji, but really isn't. I found the amount of words included to be less than adequate, as well; many things I tried to look up simply weren't there. This may be usefull for someone needing the definitions of various common Japanese words, but who isn't necessarily wanting to learn Japanese; but for the serious student, I recommend looking elsewhere for a more comprehensive dictionary.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and unique features
Review: Unlike many dictionaries, this one marks entries with pitch accent marks, which are important in contrasting some apparent homonyms. Most words are illustrated with several sentences in romanization, Japanese script, and translation. The pages are also peppered with salient usage boxes, as well as culturally revealing visual illustrations. Look up "kozuku", for example, and one is treated to a family tree identifying the basic familial terms of address. Particles are patiently explained, as are informal or colloquial variants not usually found in most dictionaries oriented toward the polite language. (It is, however, not a slang dictionary.) The appendices include a list of must-know high-frequency words and essential grammar points. I particularly appreciate the cross-referencing throughout the dictionary, e.g. between polite and informal varieties. Serious learners looking for a user-friendly one-way reference should consider getting a used copy.
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