The Setsuyō-shū or Setchō-shū was a popular Muromachi periodJapanese dictionarycollated in iroha order and subdivided into semantic categories. The title wordsetsuyō means "reduce usage; economize" and alludes to the Lunyu. "Confucius said: 'If you would govern a state of a thousand chariots, you must pay strict attention to business, be true to your word, be economical in expenditure and love the people'." The origins of the Setsuyōshū are unclear. The oldest extant edition is dated 1496 CE, and the text was probably compiled shortly before the Bunmei era. Despite much speculation about the dictionary's anonymous author, Bailey concludes "a nameless fifteenth-century Zen priest is the likeliest candidate". Unlike many early Japanese dictionaries of Chinese characters that were intended for literati, the Setsuyōshū was a true Japanese language dictionary and entered vocabulary current in Muromachi times. Each main entry gives the word in kanji, notes Japanese pronunciation in katakana on the right, and occasionally adds etymologies and comments on the bottom. There are numerous Setsuyōshū editions and many vary in content and format. Most versions collate words according to their first syllable under 43–47 iroha divisions with 9–16 semantic subdivisions, which usually begin with "Heaven and Earth" and end with "Unclassified words". This arrangement combines both Iroha Jiruishō phonetic ordering and Kagakushū semantic classifications. The Japanese linguist Hashimoto Shinkichi analyzed differences among early Setsuyōshū editions and found three categories, distinguished by the first word beginning with i- appearing under the first '"Heaven and Earth" heading. The dictionaries' initial word is either Ise, Indo, or inui. "Ise editions" have few appendices, putplace namesnear the beginning of subject headings, and are probably the oldest redaction. "Indo editions" have many appendices, including place names, and clearly have been supplemented from the 1444 CEKagakushū. "Inui editions" are usually printed with movable type, have more entries and corrections, and are the newest version. Setsuyōshū has a parallel with Webster's informally meaning "English language dictionary". Nakao notes this dictionary "remained popular for so long that the name Setsuyoshu was used as a generic term for Japanese dictionaries ".
