Last week, the 2019 edition of 現代用語の基礎知識 (Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki), published annually since 1948 by Jiyukokuminsha, went on sale. Its Japanese title literally translates as the fundamental knowledge of contemporary words, but its publisher decided on a slightly different English name: "The Year Book of the Contemporary Society." That's close enough, I suppose.
Weighing in at 1,226 pages, it's a heavy tome indeed, and while it retails for ¥3,200 plus tax, it's well worth the outlay as a useful reference book as well as a text book for learners of the language. It offers something for everyone and its greatest appeal lies in it being the kind of book you can pick up and begin reading from anywhere.
In acknowledgement that 2019 will mark the end of the current Heisei Era, when Emperor Akihito abdicates in April, the book incorporates several special sections that review the previous three decades.