The is one of Japan's two major
encyclopedias, the other being the ''
Encyclopedia Nipponica
The is an encyclopedia of Japan and the Japanese people, first published by Shogakukan from 1984 to 1989 in 25 volumes. After 10 years of preparation, over 130,000 entries and 500,000 indexes were organized in alphabetical order in more than 23,00 ...
''. The ''World Encyclopedia'' is widely held to be the most complete and up-to-date encyclopedia in the
Japanese language.
Formats
The Heibonsha ''World Encyclopedia'' currently exists in three slightly different editions:
*the ''World Encyclopedia'', originally published in 1988 by
Heibonsha, Tokyo, and based on the ''Heibonsha Encyclopedia (Heibonsha Dai-hyakka Jiten)'' published in 1984–1985
*the ''World Encyclopedia'' on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
*the
Internet-only ''Netto de Hyakka'' (ネットで百科), which was started in 1999
The 1984–1985 ''Heibonsha Encyclopedia'' was published in sixteen volumes, while the 1988 ''World Encyclopedia'' had thirty-five volumes. The content changed very little between these two editions, but the latter version was published on heavier
paper and included several additional indexes and supplementary volumes.
The ''Heibonsha Encyclopedia'' is no longer being published in a print edition, and is instead being produced in the above-mentioned DVD and Internet formats. A reduced version of this encyclopedia is also available in numerous
Japanese electronic dictionaries
An electronic dictionary is a dictionary whose data exists in digital form and can be accessed through a number of different media. Electronic dictionaries can be found in several forms, including software installed on tablet or desktop computer ...
, and modified access to ''Netto de Hyakka'' is available using Japanese
cell phones
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
. The content differs only slightly between the various formats. ''Netto de Hyakka'' is constantly updated and therefore provides the most current information, but the majority of articles have not been significantly altered from the text edition. The Internet format is text-only and does not include the images that are present in the text and DVD version.
The current version of ''Netto de hyakka'' (ネットで百科＠Home) is called the ''Network Encyclopedia'' in English, and is provided by Hitachi Systems and Services. Heibonsha no longer provides support for electronic versions of the ''World Encyclopedia''.
Characteristics
All articles in the ''Heibonsha Encyclopedia'' are signed by their authors. The encyclopedia does not include a list of reference works used in each article. Articles differ widely in length based on the significance of the topic. The encyclopedia covers a wide variety of topics of both general and specific interest, with particular attention to topics relating to Japan. The 1988 edition features 90,000 entries
and includes an index that lists cross-references for approximately 400,000 terms. Beginning with the 1988 edition, the encyclopedia has included an index in Western character sets for more convenient searching of foreign words.
See also
*
Japanese encyclopedias
References
{{Authority control
Japanese online encyclopedias
Japanese encyclopedias
1984 non-fiction books
1985 non-fiction books
1988 non-fiction books
20th-century encyclopedias
21st-century encyclopedias