Reference books
Making Sense of Japanese
by Jay Rubin
Kodansha International
ISBN: 978-4-770028020 ¥1,890
☆ This is a great collection of essays, each of which demystifies some aspect of Japanese. It takes a while to get your head around some of the explanations but re-reading some key chapters periodically will really pay off. This book was previously released under the name Gone Fishin’ and you may be able to pick up an old copy with that title.日本語の秘訣―Making sense of Japanese (Kodansha's Children's Classics)
Japanese Verbs at a Glance
by Naoko Chino
Kodansha International
ISBN: 978-4-770027658 ¥1,995
☆ Especially in Japanese, verbs are the key to a sentence and this book explains Japanese verbs from a number of angles. One particularly useful aspect of this book is the description of what verbs to use in different situations.
日本語の動詞 【新装版】 - Japanese Verbs at a Glance
All about Particles
by Naoko Chino
Kodansha International
ISBN: 978-4-770027818 ¥,1890
☆ Another book by Naoko Chino. This is a comprehensive run down of Japanese particles with an abundance of example sentences. Enjoy.
助詞で変わるあなたの日本語 - All About Particles
Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar
Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar
by Seiichi Makino, Michio Tsutsui
The Japan Times
ISBN: 978-4-789004541 ¥2,946 (Basic)
ISBN: 978-4-789007757 ¥3,885 (Intermediate)
ISBN: 978-4-789012959 ¥3,990 (Advanced)
☆ Japanese grammar broken down to bite size pieces and organized like a dictionary. Clear explanations and plenty of example sentences. Whereas ‘Making Sense of Japanese’ is something to take your time over these grammar dictionaries are for the times when you are against the clock and you haven’t even looked at half your homework, let alone done it. ‘Basic’ is suitable for Japanese Language Proficiency Test levels N5-N3, ‘Intermediate’ is for N3 to N2 and ‘Advanced’ is for N2-N1.
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar
A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar 日本語文法辞典 [上級編]
どんなときどう使う日本語基本文型辞典
by Etsuko Tomokatu, Masako Waguri, Jun Miyamoto
Alc
ISBN:978-4757412354 ¥2,940
☆ The English subtitle is 500 Essential Japanese Expressions. The format makes it easy to dip into whenever you need it. Explanations are given in English, Chinese and Korean.
どんな時どう使う 日本語表現文型辞典
