Shogakukan Unabridged Dictionary of the Japanese Language

Notes

Source Citations and Illustrative Quotations

[1] Selection of Source Citations and Illustrative Quotations

Illustrative quotations are taken from documents of all ages from ancient to contemporary. The criteria for selecting documents include:

a)	Among documents in which a given word occurs, or in which a specific sense and a use of it are found when it takes on several definitions, the one that is deemed to be the oldest is selected.
b)	A document that facilitates clear comprehension of definitions is selected.
c)	Documents are selected from diverse fields in which a given word is used (such as Japanese texts versus classical Chinese texts, and prose versus poetry, etc.).
d)	Documents are selected so as to demonstrate that a given word can be used or rendered in different ways.
In cases where illustrative quotations from extant textual sources are not provided, newly created examples (作例; sakurei) in an appropriate context may be provided in Japanese-style quotation brackets “「」” to illustrate how the word is used.

Illustrative quotations are generally arranged in the following order:

a) Chronological order is followed from ancient to modern.

b) Quotations from Chinese sources and Buddhist scriptures in Chinese translations are given last.

[2] Identification of Sources

For each source book, a prevalent and reliable version is selected as the single base of citation. When citation of a variant version is necessary, the name of the variant cited is indicated. However, for kyōgen（狂言; noh farce） scripts and some other materials, all citations include identification of the version cited.
In general, sources are selected from the most reliable versions available, but in some cases printed texts in wide circulation are given precedence on grounds of ease of access for reference. In the case of modern works, not only original editions, but also reprinted pocketbook and collected-works editions are used.
Sources with variant titles are indicated under a single standardized title. Words such as monogatari, nikki, and wakashū are omitted from some titles. For the titles of sources, see Shomei Ryakushō Ichiran (書名略称一覧; the list of abbreviations of book titles).
Dates of composition or publication are indicated whenever possible. For some items whose exact dates are not known, the approximate period is indicated. In cases where multiple theories have been advanced regarding date of composition, a single commonly proposed date is indicated.
Citation sources are given in as much detail as possible to suit the nature of the texts, by identifying specifics such as volume number, category classification, chapter title, story’s serial number, and verse’s serial number.

Some authors’ names are given in angled parentheses 〈　〉.

a)	For works of waka (和歌; traditional 31-syllable poems), renga (連歌；linked verse), and haikai (俳諧；17-syllable poems) cited from classified collections in book form, the author’s name is given at the end of the citation.
b)	For modern works, the author’s name is appended.

Some works cited are also identified by genre.

kōwaka (幸若；early dramatic dance recitations), noh (能; noh dramas), kyōgen (狂言; noh farces), otogizōshi (御伽草子; booklets of popular medieval tales), etc.

For Edo-period works, genres (kanazōshi [仮名草子; kana booklets], ukiyozōshi [浮世草子; books of the floating world], hanashibon [咄本; books of humorous stories], dangibon [談義本; books of satiric sermons], haikai [俳諧; popular linked verse], zappai [雑俳; miscellaneous popular comic verse forms], jōruri [浄瑠璃; puppet plays], kabuki [歌舞伎; a traditional Japanese performing art], zuihitsu [随筆; prose miscellanies], sharebon [洒落本; books of pleasure-quarter wit and fashion], ninjōbon [人情本; books of sentimental pleasure-quarter stories], etc.) are identified whenever possible.

Brief descriptions of principal sources are provided in the Shuyō shutten ichiran (主要出典一覧; List of Principal Sources) as part of the Furoku(付録;Appendix).

a)	Chronological order is followed from ancient to modern.
b)	Quotations from Chinese sources and Buddhist scriptures in Chinese translations are given last.