first major encyclopaedia of international scope written in the Japanese language. The first volumes of the 28-volume set were released in June 1972, and the last in 1975. The set is organized as follows: 20 volumes of comprehensive articles, 6 volumes that constitute a Reference Guide (designed to give the reader essential details in brief form), one volume devoted to the comprehensive General Index, and a one-volume Reader's Guide devoted to bibliographies arranged according to subject and to selected-reading lists and instructions for individual study. The Buritanika Kokusai Daihyakka-jiten makes extensive use of the materials in Encyclopædia Britannica, supplementing these with articles of specifically Japanese interest.