Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan

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The Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan is a comprehensive, English-language encyclopedia published by Kodansha in nine volumes that covers a wide range of topics about Japan . The first edition appeared in 1983 and was expanded in 1986 by a supplementary volume . The encyclopedia was created by both Japanese (680) and non-Japanese (524) authors from 27 nations. 40% of the text was contributed by Japanese, the remaining 60% largely by Americans and the other participating nations. Many articles are based on translated articles from Japanese encyclopedias.

In total, the work consists of over 11,000 entries from 37 different fields of knowledge. These include standard categories such as history , literature , art , religion , economics, and geography . In addition, the categories natural sciences, technology, law, women, folklore, food, clothing, sport , leisure, and animal and plant life were included. It also contains around 1000 illustrations in the form of photographs, maps, drawings, diagrams and tables. The ninth volume of the index contains names and words that are contained in the encyclopedia, but have not been given a separate entry.

In order to accommodate a broad readership, the articles were designed both with the aim of introducing a term on a basic level and as an entry point for further in-depth research. Thus, a high school student as well as a university student, diplomat or businessman can use the encyclopedia meaningfully.

Many articles, however, are no longer than a short paragraph; In contrast, the entries on main topics such as Japanese history contain several 10,000 words. The individual articles within the encyclopedia can usually not be assigned to any author. Often further reading recommendations are given at the end of an article, mostly in English or Japanese. Japanese names are always arranged in the Japanese name sequence, with the last name first.

The advisory staff included the following well-known scientists: Edwin O. Reischauer , Gerald Curtis , Ronald P. Dore , John Whitney Hall , Ezra F. Vogel , Akira Iriye and Tsuru Shigeto .

In 1993 the successor Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia appeared .

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