Jack Halpern (, , ) is a

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

-based

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...

specializing in

Chinese character Chinese characters are logographs used to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represent the only on ...

s, namely

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

. He is best known as

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the '' Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary'' and as the inventor of the

SKIP Skip or Skips may refer to: Acronyms * SKIP (Skeletal muscle and kidney enriched inositol phosphatase), a human gene * Simple Key-Management for Internet Protocol * SKIP of New York (Sick Kids need Involved People), a non-profit agency aiding ...

system for kanji lookup. Halpern is also an active unicyclist, having served as founder and president of the International Unicycling Federation. He currently resides in Saitama, Japan.

Personal life

Halpern was born in 1946 in Germany. Through his early years, he moved through six different countries including

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, picking up numerous local languages. After studying

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

at university, he began a business offering technical translation services. In 1968, while traveling, Halpern met a Japanese citizen who introduced him to kanji, beginning his lifelong interest in Chinese characters. He moved to Japan with his family in 1973, where he continues to live with his wife and two children. There, he has founded the Japan Yiddish Club, currently the only Yiddish-teaching organization in Japan. Through the club, he continues to teach Yiddish lessons at the Jewish Community Center in

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Within Japan, Halpern is well known for his public appearances. In addition to having published regular columns in Japanese magazines and periodicals and having appeared on numerous

variety shows Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compè ...

, Halpern has given hundreds of public lectures on lexicography, language-learning, and other language- and culture-related topics. He was formerly a fellow at Showa Women's University. Halpern plays the

quena The quena (hispanicized spelling of Quechua ''qina'', sometimes also written ''kena'' in English) is the traditional flute of the Andes. Traditionally made of cane or wood, it has 6 finger holes and one thumb hole, and is open on both ends or ...

, a traditional Andean flute. He has played with the Japan-based Grupo Tortuguita since 2002. Halpern is a noted

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

with speaking ability in twelve languages: English, Japanese, Hebrew, Yiddish, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Chinese, Esperanto, Standard Arabic, Palestinian Arabic and Vietnamese. His reading ability extends to Ladino,

Papiamento Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; ) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao ( ABC Islands). The language, spelled in Aruba and in Bonaire and ...

, and

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

CJK Dictionary Institute

Halpern is CEO of the CJK Dictionary Institute (CJKI), which specializes in dictionary compilation for Chinese,

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, and other languages. With CJKI, Halpern has published various lexicographical tools for language learners including the '' Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary'' and the ''New Japanese–English Character Dictionary''. CJKI has also produced a large number of technical dictionaries covering such topics as mechanical engineering, economics, and medicine. Aside from dictionary compilation, CJKI compliles large-scale lexical databases covering a total of approximately 50 million entries in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Arabic. CJKI has also developed comprehensive databases for Standard Arabic (ArabLEX) and for Arabic dialects (DiaLEX), including Egyptian Arabic.

Unicycling

Halpern is an avid unicyclist. In addition to being a former

Guinness world record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

holder for fastest 100 mile run on a unicycle, he has played a major role in the spread of unicycling as a sport throughout Japan, the United States, Canada, China, and other countries. In 1978, he introduced unicycling to Japan by founding the Japan Unicycle Club (JUC), for which he served as the first chairman. Subsequently, he served as executive director of the club's successor, the Japan Unicycling Association (JUA), until 2012. His book, ''Anyone Can Ride a Unicycle'' (), credited as the first Japanese-language book to explain how to ride the unicycle, is still included with purchases of certain models of unicycle in Japan. In 1980, Halpern founded the International Unicycling Federation, serving as its first elected president. From 1984 until 2001, Halpern served continuously as either president and later vice president of the federation, helping to popularize competitive unicycling throughout the world. As a part of this effort, he helped to organize the first ten

UNICON Unicon, previously known as UNICON, is the World unicycle, Unicycling Convention and Championships sanctioned by the International Unicycling Federation (IUF). The IUF sanctions a biennial world unicycling convention and competition, the major e ...

conferences from 1984 until 2000. In 1993, Halpern introduced competitive unicycling to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

by organizing the first Great Wall Unicycle Marathon.

Principal publications

Halpern has written many academic and research papers and is the author of dozens of books and articles - below is a selected list. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

CJKI home pageThe International Unicycling FederationThe Japan Unicycling AssociationInterview with Jack Halpern
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halpern, Jack Lexicographers Linguists from Japan Living people 1946 births Unicycling Unicyclists