Game review: Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten

Although this is technically not an actual game, for anyone who’s trying to learn Japanese and who doesn’t have $200+ to spend on a real electronic Japanese dictionary, this “Japanese dictionary on a DS cartridge” is a great substitute. Sure, it doesn’t have quite as much as a real electronic dictionary, but until you’ve gone past at least an advanced level of Japanese, this little DS cartridge will definitely be a major help…

Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten (漢字そのまま楽引辞典), a.k.a. the DS kanji dictionary, is a revolutionary DS cartridge that is basically a Japanese-English or English-Japanese electronic dictionary. An English version of the cartridge was never made, so anyone outside of Japan who wants to buy it will have to look online or at a specialty store that sells Japanese goods. But even though a Japanese version of the game is the only kind that exists, since its function is Japanese and English translation, it’s easy for an English speaker to use too as long as they have some knowledge of the Japanese writing system.

Although it came out a few years ago, I recently purchased Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten a few months ago to help me out in my first term of Advanced Japanese at my university. The Advanced Japanese class (also called 3rd year Japanese) at my university progresses beyond basic Japanese learner textbooks to the comprehension and translation of actual Japanese literature passages, essays, and articles. For this, as well as my Japanese composition writing, the DS kanji dictionary has been an absolute life saver!

There are three basic ways in which to utilize the DS kanji dictionary. Probably the most helpful way that cannot be done with book dictionaries is using the DS touch screen and stylus to draw kanji. Once you draw a kanji on the touch screen, even if it’s not written very neatly, the dictionary will automatically look up the kanji that most closely resembles what you have written and bring up a list of entries on the top screen where that kanji is used. There are two spaces on the touch screen so you can write more than one kanji for compound words (if you need to write three kanji or more, you can simply erase one that you’ve written without losing the dictionary entries). Even if you make a slight mistake while writing, and the dictionary brings up the wrong kanji, there’s a button you can press which shows a bunch of similar looking kanji so you can pick the right one from there. The ability to draw kanji on the DS touch screen is extremely helpful when you encounter kanji that you don’t know the reading and/or meaning of. All the kanji entries in the DS dictionary will provide a hiragana reading, and most will provide Japanese and English sample sentences, Japanese explanations for more complicated words, and English translations of the meaning.

The second way to use the DS kanji dictionary is to simply input hiragana or katakana rather than draw kanji. Hiragana and katakana keyboards are available on the touch screen. As you input each kana character, the dictionary will browse through entries until you find the one you’re looking for. This feature is helpful if you come across hiragana or katakana words rather than kanji that you don’t know and want to look up the English translation and possible kanji character for the word.

And lastly, the third way to use the DS kanji dictionary is as an English to Japanese dictionary. Like the kana characters, a keyboard of the English alphabet is also available. As you input letters with the stylus, entries will come up that most closely resemble the world you have written. Each English entry will show how to pronounce the word, a Japanese equivalent word, and some will also provide Japanese explanations and English and Japanese sample sentences.

Besides its basic uses that I have discussed above, there are a few other helpful features of the DS kanji dictionary. One is its vocal pronunciations of the words by native Japanese and English speakers. Another is the ability to filter through the dictionary entries that appear, for example, if you only want Japanese entries to appear, or only English/Japanese entries. There are other features that I have yet to explore too; I think there’s some way you can make a list of difficult kanji and get tested on them but I’m not sure. Since the instruction manual is all in Japanese, I haven’t yet figured out all of the dictionary’s features. It’s main function as a Japanese/English dictionary has been enough for me =)

Of course, the DS kanji dictionary does have a few drawbacks. One is obviously the fact that it is made for Japanese speakers trying to learn English rather than vice versa. As such, the instruction manual, on-screen commands, and actual word explanations are all in Japanese (with no furigana). Basically the only English is the English words that you can look up in the English to Japanese dictionary and the English translations of the Japanese entries and sample sentences. Because of this, Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten would be difficult for a beginning Japanese learner to use, and probably near impossible to use for someone with little or no prior knowledge of Japanese writing or grammar. It would probably only be helpful to someone whose Japanese is at least intermediate level. Like with all dictionaries, a good grasp of Japanese grammar would be a big help in order to understand each words’ conjugations and contexts, and to effectively use any words you look up. The ability to read a good amount of kanji would also be helpful in understanding the sample sentences that many of the entries provide (of course, you could just look up any kanji you don’t know on the dictionary, but the more kanji you already know, the less time things will take.) Another drawback is the fact that, since it isn’t a “real” electronic dictionary, it does not have as many words in its database as the $200+ dictionaries do. I’ve noticed that once in a while I will look up a kanji and there will be a Japanese entry and explanation of it, but no English translation or sample sentences. However, although it does not have the absolute completeness of a real electronic dictionary, I have used it for a few months now in my Advanced Japanese class and for my own personal use, and so far it has had about 90% of all the words and kanji I have needed (which is way more than the book dictionaries I have). One more drawback is that it’s sometimes difficult to draw more complicated kanji correctly on the touch screen so that the dictionary can recognize it. A few times I have had to draw a kanji multiple times before the dictionary finally got it right, but this could probably happen with any electronic dictionary with a similar feature.

In conclusion, although Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten would probably be too difficult for someone below an intermediate level of Japanese, for someone like me who is trying to progress from intermediate to advanced Japanese, or someone who already knows a lot about Japanese grammar and simply needs a quick way to translate vocabulary and kanji they don’t know, it is definitely a much cheaper substitute for a real Japanese/English electronic dictionary. Since I already have a good grasp of Japanese grammar and I mostly need to work on expanding my vocabulary and kanji comprehension, the DS kanji dictionary has been a near perfect help. Although I don’t usually understand the Japanese-only explanations of some words, the sample sentences that most of the word entries provide have been the most helpful. I think the sample sentences were purposely made to use simple grammar and lower-level kanji. As a result, I have been able to understand almost all the sample sentences I have come across in the dictionary. Again, although Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten is not perfect, if you want to save a few hundred dollars and get a dictionary that is almost as good for only about $50, then this DS dictionary will be an indispensable help to your continued study of Japanese ^_^

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. Kyjin says:

    I got this last Christmas, and it has been a lifesaver, especially at Middlebury. (The one thing they don’t tell you there is if you’re in the intermediate level you’re really going to want an electronic dictionary of some sort. One of my senseis had this too!) I’m currently in third year as well, and this is wonderful when working on homework assignments without furigana, as well as my own personal reading/translation projects.

  2. bandsxbands says:

    It’s interesting to see just how pervasive virtual memory has become in our lives. It seems like everywhere I turn, I see something with a card slot or USB jack, haha. I guess it makes sense though, considering how cheap memory has become as of late…Gahhhh, I shouldn’t be complaining. I can’t make it through a day without my R4 / R4i!(Submitted on PostNet for R4i Nintendo DS.)

  3. Wow… that “game” sure has a lot of features! What I like the most is that you can look up Kanji readings by drawing the kanji itself… otherwise it is always a pain to look up for readings. I remember a girl using that same dictionary when I was taking Japanese classes at University…

    Once I get my hands on a DS I will buy that same software. Thanks for sharing!

    P.D.: Yumeka… you should include an affiliate link to buy the game through Amazon Japan or something…

  4. Yen says:

    Does any one try game on Android or IOS? I would like to get comments for japanesevideocast.com site. I have passed over the trial and going to pay for primium account but I wonder how it works after I pay. If you guys have already used, please give me your comments about it!
    Thanks in advance!

Leave a Comment

*