Kanji Dictionary.. Which one?

[Kdar]

What is best Kanji Dictionary out there? At least in your opinion.

I would also would want one which doesn't use Romaji at all.
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I was looking at few..
The Kanji Dictionary (Hardcover) by Mark Spahn
http://www.amazon.com/Kanji-Dictionary-Mark-Spahn/dp/0804820589/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201466726&sr=8-1

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Also.. yes, I know this one isn't Dictionary.. But what do you think about it?
[url="http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Kanji-Characters-Systematically-Reference/dp/0834802228/ref=pd_bbs_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201466726&sr=8-5"]Link2[/url]

[Gundaetiapo]

Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide is the only hardcopy kana based Kanji dictionary I know of for English speakers. I prefer IME Pad inputted into edict these days so don't use it much.

[hyperconjugated]

The Kanji Dictionary (Hardcover) by Mark Spahn,
it uses romaji. Other than that it's great. The kanji look
up method is easy to learn and fast to use.

[Yudan Taiteki]

Whether or not it uses romaji is a pretty small thing to worry about. I can understand people's reluctance to use romaji, but having a kanji dictionary that prints the readings in romaji is not going to corrupt your mind.

It depends somewhat on what you are going to use the dictionary for. Does it have to be portable? Will you use it to look up words or just characters? Do you need it to have uncommon/rare/obsolete characters in it?

[Wakannai]

What Chris said.

Best is a relative term. If there were one "best" dictionary, then all of the others would have dropped off the market. Do you want definitions in English or Japanese? Do you want the most entries, or something more compact? Do you want your dictionary to have frequency statistics, a most common word list, examples in how to draw the kanji or not? Etc, etc..

Each kanji dictionary does different things. I'd drop the no-romaji requirement though. That's a good way of shooting yourself in the foot. You really shouldn't say, no to romaji until you use j-j dictionaries.

And please fix that link kdar, you're messing up the page formatting.

[Kdar]

Well, like I said. The "best" in your opinion. Which did you used before and like it?

Doesn't really have to be portable.. Just something I can use at home, while I study, etc.....
I have dictionary for words... (E-J/J-E)
So I guess only to look up kanji..? (but having list of words for each kanji would be nice).
I guess I would not really care so my for uncommin/rare/obsolete characters.
Just the once that used the most....

[Yudan Taiteki]

If you are at home, the EDICT kanji dictionary can be very good -- all you do is click on all the components you see in the kanji and it will bring it up; you don't have to mess with cumbersome lookup techniques. However, if you want something paper, you might consider Halpern's Kanji Learner's Dictionary. It only has Jouyou and Jinmeiyou kanji, but that should cover 99% of what you encounter -- you can always go to EDICT in a pinch.

[Wakannai]

I like the Kanji Learner's Dictionary too. It's compact, the top 1000 kanji are in red so you can prioritize them for learning faster, and I like the frequent compounds to the side. If I throw a paper dictionary in my backpack, it's the KLD.

[furrykef]

Yudan Taiteki wrote:
If you are at home, the EDICT kanji dictionary can be very good

You mean KANJIDIC. It's technically a separate project.

Anyway, if you use it, be warned that the kanji that appear in Vol. 1 of Remembering the Kanji (basically the Jōyō kanji plus about a hundred more) will usually have the Heisig keyword as the first English definition. Unfortunately, Heisig's keywords tend not to be very accurate, since his interest was not in getting the exact meaning but rather in finding the most efficient keyword for memorizing the kanji. Exact meanings come later in the Heisig method. So do pay attention to the other definitions, not just the first one, though of course sometimes the first one will still be accurate.

- Kef

[Wakannai]

Please tell me you didn't just Promote Heisig's work as a dictionary. Even Heisig never did that.

[yukamina]

Wakannai wrote:
Please tell me you didn't just Promote Heisig's work as a dictionary. Even Heisig never did that.

If you read closer, furrykef is just warning that KANJIDIC uses RTK1 keywords. I think you're a bit paranoid...

[Ken Pro]

I'm curious how this book will turn out. Publishing in May:

http://www.stonebridge.com/EveryDayKanji/EverydayKanji.html

[Yudan Taiteki]

Depends on what is meant by "usage examples". If it's just a few vocab words then that's just another pointless book -- a crippled dictionary pretending to be a textbook.

[skrhgh3b]

if it has to be a paper dictionary, i vote for the kodansha kanji learner's dictionary too. i almost never use its' SKIP lookup system, but that's not the true strength of the dictionary. what i like about it is the fact that it groups compounds by the character's various semantic meanings instead of listing them all at the top as i recall the nelson dictionaries do. this can be really helpful for a character with a wide range of usages.

[furrykef]

Wakannai wrote:
Please tell me you didn't just Promote Heisig's work as a dictionary. Even Heisig never did that.

My whole point was that Heisig makes a poor dictionary. Yet KANJIDIC usually gives Heisig's keyword as the first definition.