Haruma Wage (the first Dutch-Japanese dictionary) (ハルマ和解)

Haruma Wage is the first Dutch-Japanese dictionary. It was compiled by Rangakusha (a person who studied Western sciences by means of the Dutch language) Sanbaku INAMURA, Genzui UDAGAWA, and Hosetu OKADA and others in 1796.

With the rise of Western studies, a Dutch-Japanese dictionary was sought
Zenzaburo NISHI, a Dutch interpreter in Nagasaki started to compile a Dutch-Japanese Dictionary; however, he died while he was working on compilation and his work was unfinished. A great deal of labor was needed to arrange enormous Dutch words in the order of ABC.

Sanbaku INAMURA, Gentaku OTSUKI's disciple keenly felt the need of Dutch-Japanese Dictionary and started the activity of compilation again. Sanbaku INAMURA was introduced to Tsuneemon ISHII who was compiling the Dutch-Japanese Dictionary continuing the will of the deceased Zenzaburo NISH, a Dutch interpreter in Nagasaki, and tackled the business of compilation of the Dutch-Japanese Dictionary in a manner of translating the 'Dictionary of the Dutch and French Languages' complied by French Francois Halma (published in 1729) into Japanese. By this, he was totally able to avoid the labor of arranging words of enormous Dutch in the order of ABC. Besides Sanbaku INAMURA, the disciples of the same Gentaku OTSUKI such as Genzui UDAGAWA and Hosetsu OKADA were participated in the project.

The compilation was finished in 1796 to complete the dictionary titled ''Haruma Wage" which included 64,035 words in 13 volumes. Later, it was published from 1798 to 1799.

[Original Japanese]