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[ONE OF THE EARLIEST JAPANESE-RUSSIAN VOCABULARIES] Yedinstvennyy yaponsko-russkiy slovar’ [i.e. The Only Japanese-Russian Dictionary]

Ftatsubasi, K.

Item #2759

Tokyo, Osaka: Maruzen Kabushiki Kaisha, 1906. [4], XII, 596, 4, [2] pp. 19x13,2 cm. Original publisher’s full-cloth binding with gilt-lettered title (in Russian) and gilt-tooled ornaments on the spine. Binding reinforced with scotch tape. Traces of a library pocket on the verso of the front cover, inventory numbers on the front free endpaper and title-page, private library stamp and stamp of the “Office of the Special Commissioner of Foreign Affairs in Harbin” on the verso of the title-page, publisher and ownership Japanese stamps on the last page. Previous owner’s pencil inscription on the title-page, one page loose, but otherwise in very good condition.

Scarce. Fourth revised and enlarged edition. Previous editions published in 1904, 1906, and 1907, respectively. According to the Japanese afterword, this fourth edition was issued because the earlier printings had sold out. Text in Russian and Japanese.
One of the earliest, if not the first, Japanese-Russian vocabulary published after the Russo-Japanese War by the famous Maruzen-Kabushiki-Kaisha publishing house in Tokyo. Provenance marks preserved within reveal that the book belonged to I. G. Gumenyuk (ca. 1874-?) and was officially registered by the “Office of the Special Commissioner of Foreign Affairs in Harbin” in September 1917. Gumenyuk likely acquired the book while living in the Russian Far East, where the publisher’s editions circulated through the foreign agency of I. Yankovsky in Vladivostok. An engineer by profession, Gumenyuk took part in the defense of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War. After the Revolution, he entered the diplomatic service of the Kolchak government, and following its collapse went into exile, apparently taking this dictionary with him. He later worked for the Japanese-owned South Manchuria Railway Company (Mantetsu) and, from 1923 to 1930, served as chairman of the Association of Russian Émigrés in Dalian (then under Japanese control).
The book came out shortly after the Russo-Japanese War as Russia and Japan were transitioning from wartime rivals to strategic partners. In the aftermath of the conflict, Japan gained control of southern Manchuria, including the Liaodong Peninsula with Dalian and Port Arthur. The area had a substantial Russian presence due to its earlier role as a Russian military and administrative center, and many Russian émigrés remained there. In this multilingual environment, Japanese authorities promoted the study of Japanese to support administration and communication, contributing to the publication of practical language guides such as this first Japanese-Russian dictionary.
The edition opens with a foreword by its compiler, K. Futatsubashi, who explains that the work was born of pure necessity, as “relations between Japan and Russia are increasing day by day.” After expressing gratitude to his Russian instructor, Konstantin Efimovich Itsikava, Futatsubashi provides a brief grammatical primer on nouns and adjectives. The main lexicon comprises approximately 200,000 words, with entries arranged alphabetically by their Latin pronunciation, followed by their corresponding kanji characters and Russian translations. The volume is especially interesting for its broad and often unconventional lexical selection, capturing colloquialisms, vulgarities, and unusual contemporary Russian phrasing. Among the more striking inclusions are highly specific expressions such as nabityy durak [i.e. Utter Fool] and opukhol’ v pakhu [i.e. A Swelling in the Groin]. The volume concludes with a specialized appendix detailing Japanese terminology for state institutions, as well as civil and military ranks.
Maruzen Kabushiki Kaisha (est. in 1869) was imperial Japan’s leading purveyor of foreign literature and international scholarship. By the early 20th century, the publishing house had built a formidable global distribution network, perfectly positioning it to supply essential diplomatic and linguistic materials directly to foreign officials across the Russian Empire and East Asia. The legacy of the publishing house continues today through Maruzen-Yushodo, which remains a premier name in Japanese academic publishing and the international book trade.
Overall, the first Japanese-Russian vocabulary published after the Russo-Japanese War and a rare testament to the Russian émigré experience in Japanese-controlled South Manchuria.

No copies found in Worldcat.

Price: $750.00