Snow Country

Originally a short story, this novel, first published in serialised form between 1935 and 1937, and appearing later in an extended and revised edition in 1948, is set in the mountains of western Honshu. The exact location, though not specified in the text, is the onsen (spa) resort of Yuzawa in Niigita Prefecture. The central character, Shimamura, visiting from Tokyo, has an affair with Komako, a young geisha. Much of the novel is concerned with mortality, including the final scene.

The author, Yasunari Kawabata (born 11 June 1899), was born in Osaka. Orphaned at the age of 4, he was brought up by his grandparents. He left school in March 1917 and moved to Tokyo, where he prepared for entry to Tokyo Imperial University in 1920. He graduated with a literature degree in 1924, by which he time his contributions to literary magazines had already gained him a reputation as a writer, his first publication being a short story in 1921. His 1926 short story Izu no odoriko (The Izu Dancer) reinforced his growing reputation. His first novel was published in 1930. In 1968 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature with specific recognition for three novels: this novel, as well as Senbazuru (Thousand Cranes) and Koto (The Old Capital).

The author’s preoccupation with mortality begins in the early pages of the novel with the central character's observation of a terminally-ill young man being nursed on the train journey that brings him to the resort. The novel concludes with a potentially fatal incident, a fire in a warehouse:

“Shimamura put his arm around Komako’s shoulders.
‘What is there to be afraid of?’
’No, no. no!’ Komako shook her head and burst into tears...
She had burst out weeping at the sight of the fire, and Shimamura held her to him without thinking to wonder what had so upset her.
She stopped weeping as quickly as she had begun, and pulled away from him.
‘There's a movie in the warehouse. Tonight. The place will be full of people... People will be hurt. People will burn to death’.”