After 20 years, the free online Sanseido dictionary is no more

Japanese
#1

After 20 years of being an amazing online resource, the Sanseido online dictionary is no more. If you try to use the page you get redirected here.

https://www.sanseido-publ.co.jp/sp/wbdct_close.html

This dictionary was amazing due to it being concise and sooo easy to digest for people wanting to make the monolingual shift. This is a pretty big blow to lots of people that are learning Japanese. Of course there are other sources out there, but imo this was the best.

If you still want to use the dictionary on PC (for making anki cards etc), the workaround I have come up with atm is to use Bluestacks. Bluestacks in an android emulator for PC that will let you download the Sanseido app (from where the concise dictionary is still available).

The site mentions that they have future plans, but nothing at this point. RIP Sanseido.

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#2

Ah man, RIP. What is the reason for them shutting down the website? The text doesn’t really mention any reasons, apart from wanting to improve their website. That’s not really a reason to permanently shut it down though.

2 Likes
#3

Like you mentioned, there doesn’t seem to be a reason, but improvement seems a bit strange. It was already a great site and this was quite sudden.

1 Like
#4

RIP

That’s a shame… Goo Dictionary is really good but Sanseido’s explanations are / were much easier to understand.

Hopefully, they resurrect the online dictionary with a new more modern interface…
Thanks for the workaround, I may try it at some point.

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