Placed on a table in the back corner of a Spokane antique store, it was so inconspicuous we almost didn’t notice it.
No more than 6 inches long with a faded black cover and a strip of silver duct tape holding the spine together, the book’s title was barely legible: Sanseido’s New Concise English-Japanese Dictionary.
As a self-taught casual learner of Japanese, my interest was immediately piqued as my partner, Will, picked up the pocket-size tome. Flipping open the cover, we saw its original owner’s name carefully written in uppercase: I. SAKODA. In a combination of ink and pencil beneath the name was the following:
21-4-A…