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[RUSSIAN-JAPANESE RELATIONS AFTER 1905] Edinstvennyi iaponsko-russkii slovar' [i.e. The Only Japanese-Russian Dictionary]

Futatsubashi, Ken

Tokyo; Osaka: Marusen-Kabushiki-Kaisha, 1910. Item #710

[2], XII, 596, 6 pp. In original cloth binding with gilt lettering on spine. Scotch tape over binding, pencil underlines occasionally, p. 3-4 detached, two private stamps in Russian and Chinese on verso of Russian t.p. Otherwise very good.

Third edition. Rare. The title pages and the foreword are in Japanese and Russian.
The first edition of this dictionary was composed the next year after the Russo-Japanese War was over. The countries re-entered the period of friendly relations and a convention was concluded, dividing the influence of both empires in Manchuria. It gave a new impetus for development of international affairs. International trips of Japanese and Russians have become more frequent. Khisamutdinov writes that numerous Russian prisoners of the war read books, pamphlets and periodicals delivered through representatives of the Orthodox Church and the reigning dynasty (especially, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna), as well as public figures. A hectograph of the Russian Orthodox Mission in Japan was used to produce books in Japanese and Russian.
Russian publishing in Japan had been initiated since 1860, including a Russian ABC for Japanese children. The first Japanese-Russian dictionary was compiled in 1857 by Russian diplomat Iosif Goshkevich with a Japanese co-author. This particular dictionary was written by a Japanese author supervised by a Russian tutor Konstantin Itikawa.
The dictionary contains the alphabetical order of romanized Japanese words with their original writing and Russian translation. Among them are many colloquial words and expressions.
The book also explains Japanese civil and military ranks, names of government institutions (e.g., the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a police station and others).

Worldcat shows the only paper copy located in Michigan University.

Price: $750.00