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Daijirin (Japanese:大辞林;lit. 'Great Forest of Words') is a comprehensive single-volumeJapanese dictionary edited by Akira Matsumura (松村明;Matsumura Akira, 1916–2001), and first published by Sanseido Books (三省堂書店;Sanseidō Shoten) in 1988. This title is based upon two earlySanseidō dictionaries edited by Shōzaburō Kanazawa (金沢庄三郎, 1872–1967),Jirin (辞林 "Forest of words", 1907) and the revisedKōjirin (広辞林 "Wide forest of words", 1925).
Sanseido specifically createdDaijirin to compete with Iwanami's profitableKōjien dictionary, which was a longtime bestseller through three editions (1955, 1969, and 1983). Two other contemporary dictionaries directed at theKōjien market share were Kōdansha's color-illustratedNihongo Daijiten (日本語大辞典 "Great dictionary of Japanese", 1989) and Shōgakukan'sDaijisen (大辞泉 "Great fountainhead of words", 1995, also edited by Akira Matsumura).
The first edition ofDaijirin (1988) had 220,000headword entries and included encyclopedic content in numerous charts, tables, and illustrations. WhileKōjien was printed in black and white, Sanseido included 19 two-color illustrations for topics like the seasons (withkigo), linguistics (synonymy), and Japanese language (Man'yōgana). According to Matsumura's preface, the process of editing the first edition took over 28 years.
The second edition (1995) increased the number of entries to 233,000 and augmented the number of illustrations (including 31 pages of full-color maps and charts). Sanseido published the second edition in printed,CD-ROM,e-book, and Web versions. They additionally bundled the so-called "Super" versionSūpā Daijirin (スーパー大辞林) CD-ROM with other Sanseido Japanese and English dictionaries, plus pronunciation sound files. In 1997, Sanseido published a reverse dictionary of the second edition, entitledKanji-biki, Gyaku-biki Daijirin (漢字引き・逆引き大辞林,ISBN 4-385-13901-6), with two indexes. The first listskanji byon-yomi andstroke count, the second indexes headwords both by first and lastkanji (for example, it listsjisho 辞書 "wordbook; dictionary" under bothji 辞 "word" andsho 書 "book"). According to Sanseido, total sales of the first two editions totaled over one million copies in 2003.
The third edition (2006) added new headwords, such as the Englishloanwordintarakutibu (インタラクティブ "interactive"), for a total of 238,000 entries. Japanese dictionary publishers have an ongoing dilemma, the increasing popularity of Internet and electronic dictionaries is decreasing the sales of printed ones. Kono (2007) notes, "According to Jiten Kyokai, an association of dictionary publishers, total annual sales of printed dictionaries, including popular Japanese and English, and specialized ones, such as technical dictionaries, halved to 6.5 million copies in the past decade." To promote the third edition, Sanseido launched a novel "Dual" service, theDyuaru Daijirin (デュアル大辞林), allowing purchasers of the printed version to register for free online dictionary access. The online version is being regularly updated (currently[when?] including over 248,000 entries) and allows keyword searching for synonyms and related expressions. In 2006, collectiveDaijirin sales exceeded 1.5 million copies.
Daijirin is also available on the Internet. Sanseido's Web Dictionary offers Web andmobile phone subscription access to numerous dictionaries, includingE-jirin (e辞林).[1]Nippon Telegraph and Telephone's "Goo Lab" provided a server that allowed free online searching of the second editionSūpā Daijirin, but the service was shut down in mid 2025.[2] Yahoo also used to provide access to the second edition of the dictionary, but the service has since been discontinued.[3]
One of the biggest differences betweenDaijirin andKōjien definitions is how they arrange meanings. A dictionary can arrange entries either historically with the oldest recorded meanings first (e.g.,Kōjien andOxford English Dictionary) or popularly with the most common meanings first (e.g.,Daijirin andAmerican Heritage Dictionary).
Daijirin entries encompass diverse vocabulary, including modern andclassical Japanese words, scientific terminology, proper names, alphabetical abbreviations (likeNG "no good; outtake, blooper"), andyojijukugo idioms. Some definitions include semantic notes distinguishing homonyms and synonyms.Daijirin usage examples range from classical texts likeMan'yōshū to modern publications.
Tom Gally lists three advantages ofDaijirin,
ThoughKoujien is regarded by many in Japan as the authoritative dictionary and is the one most often cited by newspaper editorialists trying to make etymological points of questionable validity, I regard the best single-volumekokugo [Japanese language] dictionary to beDaijirin. Designed to compete directly withKoujien,Daijirin is different in one key way from its illustrious predecessor: whereasKoujien arranges the senses of its definitions in historical order,Daijirin puts the most common contemporary meanings first. The result, for a person reading modern Japanese, is thatDaijirin is the most likely to list the intended meaning where it can be found easily.[4]
The other twoDaijirin advantages are semantically "more detailed" definitions and the "unusual, though not unprecedented"kanji and reverse-dictionary index.
Baroni and Bialock describeDaijirin,
This is the most up-to-date and attractive of the large single-volumekokugo jiten. In this sense, it may overlap or even supersedeKōjien in neologism andgairaigo. It also features illustrations and historical references, charts, and explanations of historic or complicated terms. It is visually easier to use, withgojuon headings clearly boxed off, and uses larger headings for more significant entries.[5]
Faris writes,
In general the definitions in theDaijirin are fairly easy to read, while in many cases a non-native of Japanese would have more trouble readingKōjien definitions, which often contain words more difficult than the one they are defining. There are also many cases where theDaijirin is simply more complete, and contains usage or definitions not given in theKōjien.[6]
He compares the definitions forabarenbō (暴れん坊), literally meaning "rambunctious kid, wild child; bundle of energy" and figuratively meaningabaremono (暴れ者) "rowdy; hooligan; tough; maverick".
Faris concludes that since, "The most popular use of this word is with regard to overactive children, so theDaijirin wins in this case."
