is a Japanese-language
online encyclopedia
An online encyclopedia, also called an Internet encyclopedia, is a digital encyclopedia accessible through the Internet. Some examples include pre-World Wide Web services that offered the '' Academic American Encyclopedia'' beginning in 1980, Enc ...
which allows users to search across dictionaries, encyclopedias, and databases provided by publishers and others. It is operated by Voyage Marketing Co. At launch, the service's name was in
rōmaji
The romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as .
Japanese is normally written in a combination of logogram, logographic characters borrowe ...
, but has since been stylized in
katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji).
The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...
.
History
In June 2008, ''
The Asahi Shimbun
is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan.
The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...
'' and EC Navi Inc. launched the "Minna no Chiezo" service, an online version of "Chiezo," a dictionary of modern terms that was once published. The service was rebuilt as a dictionary platform in which various companies could participate.
The "kotobank" service was launched on April 23, 2009, under the management of ''The Asahi Shimbun'' and EC Navi Inc.
At launch, it claimed to cover a total of 430,000 entries from 44 dictionaries and encyclopedias, the core of which were provided by
Kodansha
is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...
,
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan.
Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...
, and Asahi Shimbun Publishing.
As the site had strong ties with ''The Asahi Shimbun'', related news from ''The Asahi Shimbun''
's website, asahi.com, appeared on its pages.
The Asahi Shimbun and Genesix began distributing the "kotobank for iPhone" electronic dictionary platform application for the
iPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
in March 2011.
[ECナビ�]
欲しい辞書を追加し、横断検索できる電子辞書プラットフォームアプリ「kotobank for iPhone」を開始
��2011年3月29日 In October 2011, EC Navi, which had been operating the site, changed its name to Voyage Group Inc.
On October 1, 2019, following a corporate reorganization of Voyage Group Inc, Voyage Marketing Inc, a subsidiary of Carta Holdings, will operate the company. In April 2021, ''The Asahi Shimbun'' logo disappeared from the site, leaving only Voyage Marketing;
[In April 2021, the "Asahi Shimbun" logo will disappear
] the registered trademark was also transferred Voyage Marketing.
[At the time of registration in 2009, the right holder: " Trademark Registration". Current owner: " Registered". Date of transfer: "Transitional Information".
] At the same time, the link to Kotobank on ''The Asahi Shimbun'' homepage was also removed.
[in the "Asahi Shimbun's Services" section at the bottom of the page.
]
Reliability
When the service was launched in 2009, ''The Asahi Shimbun'' and other operators pointed out the unreliability of information on the Internet and stated, "We aim to be the largest free glossary site in Japan with high reliability, quality and searchability of information.
We will build a highly reliable website," said Hiromi Onishi, head of the Digital Media Division at ''The Asahi Shimbun''.
The
National Diet Library
The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...
's Collections and Bibliography Department states that items listed in the Kotobank may be used as a reference when establishing new ordinary subjects in the National Diet Library's Subject Headings List if they "exist in book form, such as the Encyclopedia MyPedia, or are successors to it," and "the explanations of words and phrases are general rather than intended for specific users.
See also
*
Weblio - Similar services that allow batch searching from many dictionaries
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://kotobank.jp/
*
収録辞書一覧
Trademarks
Internet properties established in 2009
Japanese websites
Shogakukan
Kodansha
Asahi Shimbun Company
Online dictionaries
Online encyclopedias