I am hoping to teach myself some Japanese. Not for any particular reason, except that it interests me. I don't need it for work, and there is no realistic prospect of ever visiting Japan.
In any case, I am going to have to buy a dictionary. Rather than rushing out and buying the first one I see, I would welcome any advice on what I should look for in a dictionary. I would like it to have the Japanese kana, as well as have the romaji letters to make it easier at first. But what do Japanese dictionaries do in terms of ordering the entries? Are they in hiragana and katakana mixed together, with a separate place for kanji? Or are the words all written in hiragana? The kanji, in particular, scare me, because I don;t understand how I could look them up in a dictionary.
This is all a bit confused.
In brief, what should I look for in a dictionary for a beginner? Any ideas or thoughts would be wonderful. Thanks!