Shion Miura ( 三浦しをん) (1976–), daughter of a well-known Japanese classics scholar, acquired her love of reading at a very young age. On his journey, Majime discovers friendship, romance, and an incredible dedication to his work, inspired by the bond that connects us all: words.

Led by his new mentor and joined by an energetic, if reluctant, new recruit and an elder linguistics scholar, Majime is tasked with a career-defining accomplishment: completing The Great Passage, a comprehensive 2,900-page tome of the Japanese language. He discovers a kindred spirit in Mitsuya Majime-a young, disheveled square peg with a penchant for collecting antiquarian books and a background in linguistics-whom he swipes from his company’s sales department. But after thirty-seven years creating them at Gembu Books, it’s time for him to retire and find his replacement.

Inspired as a boy by the multiple meanings to be found for a single word in the dictionary, Kohei Araki is devoted to the notion that a dictionary is a boat to carry us across the sea of words. Award-winning Japanese author Shion Miura’s novel is a reminder that a life dedicated to passion is a life well lived. A charmingly warm and hopeful story of love, friendship, and the power of human connection.

Shion force of will