font resembles handwritten semi-cursive script more than printed Japanese regular script. The hiragana font includes some outdated hentaigana forms. In the history of Japanese printing, the Rakuyōshū was the first movable-type dictionary to incorporate two kana innovations that were already used in handwritten Japanese, and have survived to this day. Furigana is printing smaller kana alongside a kanji to indicate the pronunciation, a practice which allows less-educated people to read Chinese characters. Handakuten (半濁点) is printing a small circle to the upper right of a kana to indicate the voiceless bilabial stop ; for example, compare ha, hi, hu (は, ひ, ふ) with pa, pi, pu (ぱ, ぴ, ぷ). Most of the original Rakuyōshū copies were lost. Today, only four complete copies, two incomplete copies and two collections of fragments are known. Two complete copies were survived during the turbulent feudal period of Japanese history: one is now held by the Tenri Central Library, in Tenri, Nara, and the other is held by the British Library through Ernest Satow who bought this copy from antique dealer in Edo. Other two complete copies are preserved in Europe, by the Earl of Balcarres, and the Society of Jesus in Rome. Two Rakuyūshū copies missing Part (3) are owned by the Leiden University Library and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. Two collections of fragments are held by the Tenri Central Library, Bibliothèque Nationale of France, respectively. Conclusion "The Rakuyōshū, being a product of the Jesuit Mission Press and the Jesuits' views on the treatment of kanji and kana," concludes Bailey, "possesses a rigid yet comprehensive format making it somewhat a milestone in dictionary compilation in Japan." He lists six of this dictionary's aspects that enhanced its usefulness four centuries ago and make it of interest today: Its reproduction of kanji not in the square or printed style but in a form resembling longhand. Its attempt to use phonetic rather than historical kana spellings of Japanese words. Its use of alphabetization as a major sorting device in the listing of entries in the main text. Its semantic classification of radicals in the index of the "Shōgokuhen." Its listing of kanji under more than one radical in the "Shōgokuhen." Its fairly consistent use, in kana spellings, of small circles (han-dakuten) to distinguish words pronounced with a voiceless bilabial stop. References Bristol: Ganesha Publishing 1998 reprint. Footnotes Further reading Doi, Yoichi (1986). Introduction, 'Two Copies of