Photo/Illutration Jimbocho Book Town in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

“Kizumono,” which means “damaged goods,” does not imply a politician when this expression is used by secondhand book dealers.

It denotes pre-owned books that are marked with underlines or notes written in the margins. Such books are also referred to as “konseki-bon” or “books with annotations.”

Some people consider them “defiled,” and I myself used to think so.

But not anymore.

Nonfiction author Masayasu Hosaka recently wrote that when he visits used bookstores in search of materials pertaining to kamikaze pilots of World War II, he finds annotations in many of the books he finds.

For instance, a man expressed his feelings for his brother who died in action. Another note read like a grudge toward a lover, while there also were some lengthy commentaries.

According to Hosaka, there was one book whose owner wrote down all 12 months of the year in the margin, and then added, “After one year, the days will return. But March 18, 1945, will never return.” That was probably the day a beloved person died.

The musing went on to the effect that new grass may sprout on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine, but “my beloved will not come back.”

Such annotations represent dialogues with the past, transcending space and time. The print is uniform for all books of the same title, but every volume carries a different “story.”

When you imagine someone thinking about something or agonizing over it while holding this particular book in hand, you realize that all the marks and comments left on the pages are historical testimonies, not evidence of “defilement.”

I began thinking these things when I was sorting through my late father’s books and discovered, on one yellowed page, a little notation made by a fountain pen.

It was nothing more than just two kanji characters denoting “finished reading.” Still, it felt as if my deceased father was gently talking to me, and I missed him dearly.

In this day and age of e-readers, all those annotations on “physical books” must be fast disappearing.

The Asahi Shimbun’s letters to the editor section recently ran this comment from a reader: “From between the pages (of a book), a fragment of the life of a total stranger falls out unexpectedly. It’s sad to think that this has to end.”

I could not agree more.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 30

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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