diff --git a/kanjidic2.go b/kanjidic2.go
index 63204fe..38ded58 100644
--- a/kanjidic2.go
+++ b/kanjidic2.go
@@ -70,10 +70,13 @@ type Kanji struct {
 	Nanori      []string   `xml:"nanori"`
 }
 
-func ParseKanjiDic2(filename string) (kanjiList []Kanji, err error) {
+type Kanjidic2Parser map[string]Kanji
+
+func ParseKanjiDic2(filename string) (Kanjidic2Parser, error) {
+	k := Kanjidic2Parser{}
 	xmlFile, err := os.Open(filename)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return k, err
 	}
 	defer xmlFile.Close()
 	decoder := xml.NewDecoder(xmlFile)
@@ -87,9 +90,9 @@ func ParseKanjiDic2(filename string) (kanjiList []Kanji, err error) {
 			if startElement.Name.Local == "character" {
 				var kanji Kanji
 				decoder.DecodeElement(&kanji, &startElement)
-				kanjiList = append(kanjiList, kanji)
+				k[kanji.Literal] = kanji
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	return
+	return k, nil
 }
diff --git a/kanjidic2_test.go b/kanjidic2_test.go
index eee37b4..6ea07fa 100644
--- a/kanjidic2_test.go
+++ b/kanjidic2_test.go
@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
 package kanjidic2
 
-import (
-	"testing"
-)
+import "testing"
 
 var numKanji = 13108
-var kanjiList []Kanji
+var kanjidic2Parser Kanjidic2Parser
 
 func TestParser(t *testing.T) {
 	got, err := ParseKanjiDic2("kanjidic2.xml")
@@ -16,14 +14,14 @@ func TestParser(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("ParseKanjiDic2 length incorrect: got %d, want %d", got, numKanji)
 	}
 	// set kanjiList for later tests
-	kanjiList = got
+	kanjidic2Parser = got
 }
 
 var strokeCountTests = []struct {
 	Literal string
 	Count   int
 }{
-	{"ー", 1},
+	{"一", 1},
 	{"二", 2},
 	{"三", 3},
 	{"中", 4},
@@ -33,13 +31,9 @@ var strokeCountTests = []struct {
 }
 
 func TestStrokeCount(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, k := range kanjiList {
-		for _, tt := range strokeCountTests {
-			if k.Literal == tt.Literal {
-				if got := k.StrokeCount; got != tt.Count {
-					t.Errorf("TestStrokeCount (%s): got %d, want %d", tt.Literal, got, tt.Count)
-				}
-			}
+	for _, tt := range strokeCountTests {
+		if got := kanjidic2Parser[tt.Literal].StrokeCount; got != tt.Count {
+			t.Errorf("TestStrokeCount (%s): got %d, want %d", tt.Literal, got, tt.Count)
 		}
 	}
 }