This paper presents an analysis of modern Japanese language based on Kim Ki-su’s ‘日東記游,’ a checklist that was reported by the first diplomatic mission to Japan after its opening.
As an analysis method, we first extracted Japanese characters for a total of four “日東記游” books composed of Chinese characters. Based on the excerpts of Chinese characters, we analyzed the Japanese-made Shinhan language, which contains only examples since modern times. The results confirmed that the first volume (62), the second volume (60), the third volume (62), and the fourth volume (25) are included. However, the Japanese dictionary should not be used only as a basis for judgment, so it was necessary to check if the same term was used from the former Joseon Dynasty or earlier; we thus conducted another cross-review using the Korean classical DB. As a result, the results included the books 1 (26), 2 (17), 3 (13), and 4 (4).
As such, it is believed that the Chinese characters used in the Japanese dictionary are likely to be Chinese characters used by Korea, China and Japan, and that the words recorded in the Chinese classics may be in Japanese dictionaries, and further detailed analysis is needed.
And the functional classification of Japanese-made words recorded in ‘日東記游’ confirms that Japanese-made Shinhan words related to modernization are recorded. Through this lexicon contact, Kim Ki-su was able to learn from the Japanese the culture of Japan and its modern civilization in the field of visitors.