Random House Japanese-English, English-Japanese Dictionary

Novices and more advanced students and speakers of Japanese alike will find this a very handy reference to have on hand. Broken into two halves--one an English to Japanese dictionary and the other the reverse--the book allows students to easily locate whatever word they need.The one "fault" is that the Japanese-English portion is in Romaji, or the English-letter representation of Japanese sounds, which can make locating some words difficult for a couple of reasons--first, readers may not know the pronounciation of a given word in kanji (which other books better address anyway); and second, Romanization methods differ, yielding some confusion over the proper "spelling" of a given word. Still, a student with some knowledge of grammar should be able to look up spoken, Romanized, or kana-ized words without much difficulty.

As a student of Japanese six years, I am impressed with this dictionaries ability to satisfy the needs of a beginning and advanced speaker of Japanese. The dictionary's use of Kanji and description of the implications that each word gives in definite plus. This dictionary has everything a dictionary could offer except for "naughty" words. For those who wish to pursue intelligent Japanese conversational skills, this is the book.

Living in Tokyo, it`s been essential for me to have an effective translation dictionary. This one has filled the bill. True, it isn`t necessarially the best choice for beginners, but as you begin to explore Japanese more, this book will keep up with you. In my Japanese language class, this dictionary has pulled through for us when other students` dictionaries could not. The best feature is the easy-to-read Romaji (English spellings) that permit you to sound out the words without having to read Japanese. However, the Japanese is included also, meaning I`ll be able to continue learning with this book for quite some time.

I'm on my second copy of this book, since I wore my last one right out. My last one was the paperback, though, and this one has much better quality. Anyhow, I have no complaints. Rarely have I tried to look up a word in either language and not find a translation. It includes romanji, kana, and kanji to help all levels of Japanese students. So if you're looking for a quality, simple, and to-the-point dictionary, you can't go wrong here.

rather extensive dictionary... i prefer not to see japanese words in romaji (roman characters) at all, but at least after you look up the word it has the kanji and/or kana listed for the word.... one thing to note: the paperback version (the one with the girl on the cover, not the 'pocket' version) is made with what i would consider a 'substandard' cover.... i suggest the hardcover... my paperback cover is just about to fall off... then i'll get the hardcover... but i urge everyone else to skip this step... either way, this is a must have for english speakers studying japanese... one day we'll each have a 30lb 'official' japanese dictionary... but until then we have this fine book... subarashii, nakao sensei!