Digitized Waei Gorin Shūsei
The Waei Gorin Shūsei was the first Japanese-English dictionary in Japan published in 1867, and was
compiled by American missionary J.C. Hepburn. The Hepburn romanization system was employed as the
transliteration method for this dictionary.
Regarded as a Japanese-English language dictionary without equal that included words from all social
classes of Japan, this dictionary was widely used in Japan from the Bakumatsu to Meiji era, during
which time it underwent three revisions and was also published abroad. It is held in high regard as
a national dictionary that adeptly interprets the Japanese language, and its words and example
sentences are still included in modern lexicons such as the Shinchō Gendai Kokugo Jiten. Through the
power of digital technology, it is now possible to browse through this important dictionary
online.