[1] The film won several awards, including the Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year, and also received several nominations.

With Majime on the editing team, the group plans to produce a new dictionary called "Daitokai" (The Great Passage/大渡海)[2] which would bridge the gap between people and the sea of words and would take years to complete.

Back at his home, the Sou-Un-Sou Rooming House, Majime meets Kaguya Hayashi (Aoi Miyazaki), his landlady's granddaughter who has just returned from culinary school.

[3] James Hadfield of Time Out Tokyo gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, saying "Yuya Ishii's tale of a dictionary maker in love is genuinely charming.

"[4] Screen International's Mark Adams writes that, "The film pays affectionate – and even old-fashioned – tribute to the world of words and dictionaries, while also finding space for a tender and slow-paced romance that would be out-of-step for a contemporary story.