Shogakukan Unabridged Dictionary of the Japanese Language

Notes

Entry headwords are divided by their forms into the following types:

Main headwords (oyamidashi) for independent words, auxiliary words, and affixes
Subsidiary headwords (komidashi) for phrases, idiomatic expressions, proverbs, etc.
Entry headwords are also divided into “full heading ” (honmidashi), which are followed by complete descriptions including definitions, examples, etc., and "blank headings" (karamidashi), which are followed only by a cross-reference to a full heading indicated by an arrow .

Both indigenous Japanese words and Sino-Japanese words are given in hiragana, while loanwords (gairaigo) are given in katakana.
Kana orthography for indigenous Japanese and Sino-Japanese words, both traditional and modern, follows the July 1986 Cabinet Notification on Modern Kana Orthography. Orthography for dialects does not necessarily conform with modern kana usage.
For words of foreign origin, the June 1991 Cabinet Notification on Loanword Orthography is followed. Variant forms integrated into full headings (honmidashi) are presented in double angled parentheses ≪　≫ immediately following the headwords, and separate entries are given with cross-references when necessary.

Final elements of compound forms, when readily identifiable on the basis of word structure, are preceded by a hyphen “ – ”. However, this is often omitted in the case of proper nouns (other than personal names and the like), dialects, etc.
In inflected words, the stem and the inflecting suffix are separated by a point •. In adjectives with shiku declension, the stem in the vernacular spoken style （口語;kōgo） is the same as its conclusive form, but a circle is specially inserted before the syllable -shi.

Verbs(動詞; Dōshi)

a)	For those verbs with separate literary and colloquial forms, the colloquial form is given as the full heading, with the literary form included under the symbol ……. Literary forms are also given under their own headings with cross-references as needed.
b)	The sentence-final form (shūshikei) is the inflection used in the headings as a rule.

Adjectives (形容詞; Keiyōshi)

a)	For those adjectives with both colloquial and literary forms, the colloquial form is given as the full heading.
b)	The sentence-final form (shūshikei) is given as the full heading as a rule, but in some cases the stem form is given a separate heading.

Verbal adjectives (also called “Adjectival nouns”; 形容動詞; Keiyōdōshi)

a) The stem is given in the heading for both colloquial and literary forms.

b) In cases where a verbal adjective stem shares a common form with a noun, it is included in the noun entry as a rule.
Auxiliary verbs (助動詞; Jodōshi)
The sentence-final form (shūshikei) is the inflection generally given in the heading for both literary and colloquial forms, but some inflections, such as those that differ from their sentence-final forms starting from the initial syllable, may be given under their own headings.

a)	The stem is given in the heading for both colloquial and literary forms.
b)	In cases where a verbal adjective stem shares a common form with a noun, it is included in the noun entry as a rule.