Features of Hepburn's dictionary
(1)The first authentic Japanese language dictionary created by the modern Western world
As the countries of Western Europe approached the end of the Second Great Age of Discovery,
Japan (tucked away in the Far East) opened its borders through means of peace treaties with various nations,
starting with the 1854 Convention of Kanagawa. However, the most substantial Japanese dictionary at this
time was the Nippo Jisho（The Japanese-Portuguese Dictionary）, compiled in Nagasaki in 1603 by Jesuit
missionaries. While efforts had been made to translate it into other languages, starting in France with the
completion of the Nichifutsu Jiten(The Japanese-French Dictionary), these endeavors were limited to the
translation of a dictionary that had been written 250 years previously. Although works such as W.H.
Medhurst's Eiwa Waei Goi (published in 1830) also existed—which had been written by drawing upon texts such
as the Nagasaki Dutch trading house's Rango Yakusen without any actual contact with Japanese people—they
were insufficient.
In the midst of this all, appearing on the scene in 1867 was the London edition of the Waei Gorin Shūsei—the
first edition of a modern Japanese dictionary—from London-based Trübner and Company. It was then that the
Waei Gorin Shūsei came to hold worldwide historical importance. A superb edition, it can be seen as the one
that connected Japan to the rest of the world.
(2)The first Japanese-English dictionary in Japan
Japan's very first Japanese-English dictionary was the Waei Gorin Shūsei (commonly known as
Hepburn's dictionary), which was published in 1867. An English-Japanese index was attached to the
Japanese-English content. The dictionary was revised by Hepburn and republished as a second edition in 1872,
followed by a third in 1886. It was also released in London, New York, and Shanghai, and the small and
convenient abridged version was used until the end of the Meiji era.
The Hepburn romanization system was used to transliterate the Japanese language for the dictionary. Dr.
Hepburn made direct descriptions of many of the words included in the dictionary from all strata of Japanese
society, making it a valuable Japanese dictionary for its record of words from the Bakumatsu and Meiji eras,
and remains so for researchers today.
It is remarkable that during the Bakumatsu and Meiji years, when the Japanese were most engaged in the study
of the English language—a period of 29 years—no other dictionary came close to equaling Hepburn's dictionary
in popularity.
The only Japanese-English dictionary compiled by a Japanese person that could be seen as bettering Hepburn's
is Sanseidō's 1896 Waei Daijiten, which was edited by Brinkley, Nanjō, and Iwasaki.
(3)The dictionary that recorded the words of the Japanese as they lived
As stated in the preface of the first edition, the dictionaries used by Hepburn to compile
his own were primarily the Jesuit's Nippo Jisho and W.H. Medhurst's An English and Japanese, and Japanese
and English Vocabulary, both of which were flawed. Hepburn opted instead to record the colloquial language
and local dialects employed in everyday life by "living teachers." This approach led to the creation of
important dictionaries that reflected the language of the times in which they were written and captured the
essence of the nation: the first edition captured the language of the Bakumatsu era, the second edition
documented the language in use during the Meiji Restoration, and the third edition is a record of the
language spoken in the years that followed. The third edition also included ancient and archaic language
from the Kojiki and Manyōshū.
It is for this reason that even today researchers of the Japanese language consider Hepburn's dictionary to
be essential.
(4)Faithful descriptions of Japanese language pronunciations
Hepburn made faithful descriptions of the way Japanese was pronounced by directly noting
the way that the Japanese people from all strata of society spoke during the Bakumatsu era, particularly in
the first edition of his dictionary. Just as he wrote in the introduction of the first edition that "his
principal dependence, however, has been upon the living teacher," he searched out the words that formed the
Japanese language from the mouths of "living teachers."
Possessing a keen ear, Hepburn correctly recorded the sounds mistakenly thought by the Japanese to be
pronounced the same as the separate, distinct sounds that they were.
(5)Understanding and explaining Japan and its culture
Because Hepburn had volunteered as a missionary doctor, many reported his dictionary as
having been created expressly for the purpose of translating the Bible, but this was a highly ignorant
viewpoint.
Hepburn had indeed written to a representative of his missionary school that "I am getting on slowly but I
hope surely with Dictionary although you seem to underestimate it, I feel it to be the very best thing I can
do, just now, for missionary work in this country;" however, this was done in order to gain acceptance for
his work on the dictionary, and his ambitions extended far beyond.
He wrote in the same letter: "I am making it just as complete as possible, and not mere mercantile
vocabulary." "This Dict.,if it should be finished, will be the greatest boon that could be composed
foreigners here, as well as natives, for the latter are just as anxious for it, as the former. I tremble to
thinkof the mighty task I have undertaken, and the weighty resposibility" (November 28, 1864).
It is clear from the entries in the dictionary that it was intended to be far more than an instrument for
translating the Bible. When one considers the inclusion of ancient and archaic language from the Kojiki and
Manyōshū in the third edition, it becomes increasingly apparent that Hepburn's true intention differed
greatly from his declaration that his dictionary would be used merely "for the purpose of translating the
Bible."
Given that both foreigners and Japanese had anticipated the dictionary's release with equal fervor, it is
amazing that for the 30 years in which it was widely used it had no competitor.
(6)The introduction of the Hepburn romanization system
The Japanese in the Waei Gorin Shūsei was transliterated using the Hepburn romanization
system.
Before the introduction of the Hepburn romanization system, three methods were used to communicate the
Japanese language in writing: Kanji, kana, and katakana. The Hepburn romanization system became a fourth way
to communicate Japanese through the use of rōmaji(Japanese transliterated using the Roman alphabet), which
is a system in ubiquitous use today that has enriched the expression of the Japanese language. This system
underwent gradual change after initial publication, and was finalized in the third edition.
(7)Identifying word classes with numerous examples
Neither the Nippo Jisho nor Eiwa Waei Goi made mention of word classes. Hepburn's dictionary included a section at the end of the introductory chapter that provided an explanation of the abbreviations that were used. Entries were recorded in the renyōkei (continuative form) rather than the shūshikei (predicative form) with references to conjugated forms and word classes. Of course, these Japanese "word classes" had to be fitted into English grammatical terms, thus a distinction was made between the transitive and intransitive forms of verbs (whether or not the verb requires a direct object). One of the other characteristics of Hepburn's dictionary was its liberal use of example sentences.
(8)More than a Japanese-English dictionary— it is also a Japanese language dictionary
While the majority of today's Japanese-English dictionaries are chiefly aimed towards
understanding the English language, the intention behind Hepburn's dictionary was to understand the Japanese
language.
Akira Matsumura wrote in his commentary for the reprinted edition of the Waei Gorin Shūsei (Hokushin, 1966)
that "this work is fundamentally a Japanese language dictionary, a dictionary for the nation." Shinchō's
Modern Japanese Dictionary and other present day dictionaries include numerous entries and example sentences
from Hepburn's dictionary in order to demonstrate changes in the language and help readers understand
examples. Shogakukan's Modern Japanese Dictionary also includes 5,825 words from Hepburn's dictionary.
(9)Not just a Japanese-English dictionary—it is also an English-Japanese dictionary
Around 10,000 words of English were included in Part Two of the first edition. This section was given the English heading "English-Japanese Index" because it was compiled while the dictionary was being typeset and printed in Shanghai. With each new edition the number of entries grew, thus increasing the size of Part Two; as a result, when the dictionary was republished Part Two's name was changed to Japanese-English Dictionary. In the third edition the Japanese heading was changed to Waei Eiwa Gorin Shūsei(Japanese-English and English Japanese Dictionary).
(10)The first dictionary to typeset Japanese horizontally
It has been suggested that the dictionary was typeset horizontally because it was printed by the American
Presbyterian Mission Press in Shanghai, but a more persuasive argument can be found by looking at Hepburn's
own manuscripts, in which Japanese is written horizontally.
Inquiries were made at the Bakufu Kaiseijo School to print Hepburn's dictionary there, but these were
rebuffed for a massive volume of the book, we may not support your goals" (Meiji Jibutsu Kigen), leaving
Hepburn to have his dictionary printed by the American Presbyterian Mission Press in Shanghai, which was
managed by the missionary school he was affiliated with. His dictionary was then published in Yokohama.
Ginkō Ishihara, who had aided Hepburn in the compilation of his dictionary and travelled with him to
Shanghai, wrote the original manuscripts for its kana printing types (later published as the Wayaku Eigo
Renjū in 1873 and sometimes regarded as the fourth edition of the Waei Taiyaku Shūchin), although this
presented Japanese in a vertical format.
Two years after Hepburn's dictionary was published, the American Presbyterian Mission Press released
Verbeck's Wayaku Ei-jisho (The Satsuma Dictionary), but this also presented Japanese vertically.
This shows that the horizontal format of Hepburn's dictionary was not a decision made by the American
Presbyterian Mission Press, but the directive of Hepburn himself.
The first book to be printed that presented Japanese in a horizontal format was Colloquial Japanese, which
was written by S.R. Brown and published in 1863 by the very same American Presbyterian Mission Press—here,
the Japanese was written in horizontal katakana.