Japanese Early Modern Palaeography

Recommended reference materials for kana

Hentaigana rough chart (Kanechiku Nobuyuki 兼築信行, Hentaigana soku shūchō 変体仮名速習帳 (Waseda daigaku bungakubu, 2003).

Hentaigana detailed chart

Recommended reference materials for kanji

Kodama Kōta 児玉幸多(ed.), Kuzushiji yōrei jiten くずし字用例辞典 (Tōkyōdō shuppan, 2002)  > This dictionary allows you to search characters through their radical, the total number of strokes, their on yomi or kunyomi. (There is a CDRom version which runs on Japanese OS)
Click HERE for a password-protected PDF version (PLEASE DO NOT SHARE WITH ANY THIRD PARTY)

Kodama Kōta 児玉幸多(ed.), Kuzushiji kaidoku jiten くずし字解読辞典 (Tōkyōdō shuppan, 1993)  > This dictionary allows you to search characters on the basis of the order used to write the calligraphic version. It is very cumbersome to use and can be substituted with online materials like the following.
1. AI Tegaki kuzushiji kensaku 手書きくずし字検索
2. AI assistant embedded in Minna de honkoku

Tōkyō tegami no kai (ed.), Kuzushiji jiten くずし字辞典 (Shibunkaku shuppan, 2000)> This dictionary is extremely helpful for handwritten letters and for nyohitsu 女筆.

五体字類: digitized HERE.

An introduction to sōrōbun

Please find here the manual Reading sōrōbun. A introductory manual

Resources for the study of kuzushiji and hentaigana

There are a number of online materials that have gathered information about what resources are available to start working on early modern Japanese materials written in cursive.

Kuzushiji Reading Resources | What can I do with a B.A. in Japanese Studies? (shinpaideshou.com) (Paula Curtis)

Digital Resources for Japanese Palaeography – The Digital Orientalist (Dr James Morris)

CJR-Kuzushiji-resources.pdf (ubc.ca) (Bianca Chui)

Kuzushiji – Japanese Digital Resources – Guides at Penn Libraries (upenn.edu) (University of Pennsylvania)

Home – Japanese Kuzushiji & Hentaigana Resources – Research Guides at University of British Columbia (ubc.ca) (University of British Columbia).

Help from digital materials

If you want to try and scribble the sign you are trying to decode, use: AI Tegaki kuzushiji kensaku 手書きくずし字検索

If you have a picture of the sign you are trying to decode, use: 解析:木簡・くずし字解読システム (nabunken.go.jp)

A useful dataset: http://codh.rois.ac.jp/char-shape/search/

Try out with radicals: 部首のくずし字 | 古文書便覧 (rokumeibunko.com)

For checking itaiji try out: GlyphWiki.

Many more materials are described in detail on Digital Resources for Japanese Palaeography – The Digital Orientalist.

Basic rules for honkoku 翻刻 (diplomatic transcription)

We are aiming to produce diplomatic transcriptions, in Japanese honkoku 翻刻. Producing accurate transcriptions is key when you publish a transcription in its entirety or when you include it in a publication, be it an article, a catalogue or anything else. The rules in the PDF file below have been carefully devised on the basis of what is taught and expected in Japan. You are required to follow these rules throughout the whole summer school. Thank you.