About this app

Baffled by that name on a Japanese business card? Can't figure out the names in a Japanese newspaper or book? Japanese names can be very hard to figure out, even for experienced linguists. Names often use uncommon Kanji or the Kanji are pronounced in ways you can't find in a standard dictionary. And there can be dozens of different ways to write common names, like the girl's name “Asuka” for example.

This dictionary is an essential tool for Japanese linguists. Our proprietary database technology allows us to cram over 740,000 names of both Japanese and foreign people, places, literary works, train stations, companies, products and organizations into a small app. No additional or lengthy downloads. The dictionary can be searched with Kanji, Kana or English and automatically detects which is being used. Results are displayed instantly as you type and are always shown in Kanji (if there is a Kanji spelling), Kana and Romanized English.

But what about those uncommon Kanji used in names? The dictionary includes our unique built-in visual Kanji Keyboard. The keyboard works seamlessly with your favorite Japanese keyboard and is completely visual – no stroke counting, no need to guess how the Kanji is pronounced. Just pick out which visual elements are in the Kanji. As you touch each element, the keyboard adapts to show you only the minimum set of elements that are needed next. Most unknown Kanji can be found by touching only 1 – 3 elements. By far the fastest and easiest way to find unknown Kanji.

Dictionary entries can be tagged for future reference with bookmarks. Bookmark categories can be entered on the fly by creating tags.

FEATURES:
• Offline, low storage requirement.
• Over 740,000 names of both Japanese and foreign people, places, literary works, train stations, companies, products and organizations.
• Enter Kanji, Kana or English. Autodetects type of entry.
• Results displayed instantly as you type.
• Results shown in Kanji (if there is a Kanji spelling), Kana and Romanized English.
• Fast lookup of unknown Kanji with built-in visual keyboard.
• Bookmarks with category tags.
• Name category filter, Kanji clipboard.

SOURCES:
This dictionary uses the ENAMDICT and KANJIDIC dictionary files. These files are the property of the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group, and are used in conformance with the Group's license.

Additional material to supplement the ENAMDICT information has been added from Wikipedia, including:

• List of railway stations in Japan
• List of cities in Japan
• 100 Famous Japanese Mountains
• List of rivers of Japan
• List of villages in Japan
• List of most common surnames in Asia

This material is used in conformance with the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License as specified by Wikipedia Content Reuse Policy. Redundancies with the ENAMDICT information have been removed and the data has been converted to a Romanization compatible with the ENAMDICT data.

New features

Added green highlighting for most common readings of top 100 surnames.