This dictionary began years ago, in response to the need for communication between the two peoples, which I saw as intense through my work at the Japanese Embassy, not only to get closer to each other but to know and understand each other better and through this approach to become richer in experience and knowledge.

After all, both peoples, with such a long history and cultural tradition, with many common ideals but also essential differences, have much to say to each other. In the many years that have passed since the first attempt to compile the dictionary until its current form, the developments have been rapid, with the most significant for the dictionary being the educational reforms in both countries and the technological progress that required its adaptation to new conditions. At the same time, the dictionary, from a basic pocket edition, which was the original idea, evolved, including more and more words and broader topics, as its publication was delayed, as mentioned in the preface of the first edition. The technical disadvantages and other imperfections of the first edition of the dictionary, as the only work in this field, necessitated its revision. This work has been the sole occupation for the past eight years, not only for the difficult task itself but also for the major technical problems that continue to arise during its processing on a computer by a non-specialist in this field. In the selection of entries, the thought of a Greek and a Japanese person sitting opposite each other trying to communicate always dominated. What will they say, what might they discuss, on what topics might they expand? The topics of conversation continually broadened… Of course, there were again many discussions and searches with Japanese friends, for many cases until the final entry, in the effort for a real improvement of the dictionary, not only with the addition of many explanations of meaning, examples, established phrases, etc., but above all, for the accuracy of the rendering. However, there is still some concern because rendering a Greek word into the language of a people with such a long history, with class differences in its historical course, with a different culture and mentality, is difficult in many cases, especially when it comes to emotions, character, moral values, elements of cultural heritage, and others. And by rendering, I mean the Japanese word that will have the dimension, depth, and emotion of the recorded Greek word. Many Greek words that express emotions or situations with exaggeration, e.g., revelry, noise, etc., had to be shrunk, the intensity reduced, to be rendered.