Today I finished a book called “The Great Passage” by Shion Miura. I got this book from an Amazon sale a couple of months ago (together with 8 other books by International Authors). The story revolves around the creation of a Japanese dictionary called The Great Passage (because the setting is in Japan), the challenges that came with it, and how it formed or changed the lives of the characters in the story.

The plot may sound boring, but this is one of the best heartwarming books I’ve read in a while. I deeply admire people who have such an intense passion for what they do – and this can be seen in the main characters of the book. Majime, for example, is a guy most people would probably stay away from in real life. However, without the kind of passion that he has, The Great Passage, which took 15 years to create, would have never seen the light of day. Not that this feat can be attributed to him alone – the people who took a risk and believed that he could do it, and the people who supported him despite not being amiable with him at the start, have all played an important role.

Awakening to the power of words – the power not to hurt others but to protect them, to tell them things, to form connections with them – had taught her to probe her own mind and inclined her to make allowances for other people’s thoughts and feelings.

For those who are learning Japanese, it is especially interesting because you will encounter words you’ve learned, and even some history behind those words. I have always been captivated by the beauty of the Japanese words, how it is both phonetic and visual (in terms of the characters used) – and how the pronunciation may be the same, but the meanings different, depending on the kanji used. As someone struggling to study the language right now (in terms of motivation at least), this reminded me of why I wanted to study Japanese in the first place – the ability to read and understand the message behind Japanese literature and pop culture (from movies, songs, anime, etc) – these are all about learning the same words lexicographers put so much effort into defining and documenting in a dictionary!

Words and the human heart that creates them are absolutely free, with no connection to the powers that be. And that’s as it should be. A ship to enable all people to travel freely across the sea of words – we must continue our efforts to make sure The Great Passage is just that. – Professor Matsumoto

You will get to appreciate the amount of work that is put into creating a book that nobody ever really reads anymore, but is really as important as The Bible even, in terms of its value to humanity.  The dictionary, plain as it may seem, is in fact a powerful book that captures the definition of words that evolved through time – words that have been essential for us human beings to communicate our thoughts and feelings where there was once just silence or random sounds perhaps. I now have a new-found appreciation for dictionaries, Japanese Dictionaries in particular, that I’m thinking of getting myself one on my next visit, and make it a lifelong goal to be able to read and understand everything that’s written there.

I will not spoil the story for you. But I will say that when I finished this book today at a coffee shop, I tried my best to hold back some tears because there were people around me. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I started it without any expectation and after reading it – I wished that they would make it into a movie because I can really see how this can be an entertaining film as well. I just found out now that they have already in fact created one – with my favorite actors/actresses, too! I will definitely be checking out the movie soon, hoping it meets expectations!

In case you’re interested, here’s a link to get the book on Amazon straight to your Kindle, or Kindle App!