456:, and an electric avalanche warning system. Kawabata saw no conflict between the modern and the traditional, but saw modern inventions as part of the traditional Japan. This can be seen in the train scene, at the very beginning of the novel, during which the protagonist observes the beautiful eyes of the female passenger. The electric light of the train thus facilitates traditional esthetic expression. Various modern inventions are treated as a normal part of life in the rustic onsen town.
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customers' demands without any emotional attachment. Throughout their conversations, a number of things about Komako's life is revealed: her becoming a geisha to pay for Yukio's hospital bills, their rumored engagement, Komako and Yukio's strained relationship, how she came to live with Yukio and his mother, and her life as a full-time geisha.
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expert (although he has never seen one in person). During the train ride, he observes a young woman (who is later revealed as Yoko) caring for a sickly man (named Yukio). He observes the woman through a reflection in the train window, and is particularly enthralled by her eyes, as well as the sound
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as an example of how
Kawabata often composed his works. While writing that Japanese novelists often publish "their works in serial form and under various titles" she observes Kawabata is "further noted for his habit of rewriting, adding segments, and making changes in titles and content alike." The
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This novel, like others
Kawabata wrote, vividly depicts the psychic cost of aesthetic appreciation, as well as its effect on minds susceptible to beauty. The protagonist of the novel is often taken out of the real world and into the dream world of his own mind after witnessing beauty. Furthermore,
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Kawabata restarted work on the novel after a three-year break, again adding new chapters and again publishing in two separate journals, in 1940 and 1941. He re-wrote the last two sections, merging them into a single piece, published in a journal in 1946. Another additional piece arrived in 1947.
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At the very end of the novel, a fire occurs in the town warehouse, which was at the time being used as a cinema. Shimamura and Komako come to observe the fire, and see Yoko falling lifelessly from the warehouse balcony. Komako carries Yoko's body away from the burning warehouse, while
Shimamura
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The climax of the novel happens during one of Komako's visits to
Shimamura's room at the onsen inn. During their conversation, Shimamura calls her a "good woman", instead of a "good girl". This change of wording used to describe Komako reveals that the two of them could never be together, while
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during his first stay, her situation is changed during his second visit. Shimamura is attracted to the young geisha, although his affection proves to be inconsistent and uncertain over time. However, Komako falls in love with
Shimamura, which goes against the geisha tradition of meeting the
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It can also be noted that all depictions of beauty in the novel include an element of sadness: loneliness in the beauty of nature, sadness in Yoko's beautiful voice, wasted beauty of Komako, as well as the wasted effort in an act of love.
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near the end of his life. A few months before his death in 1972, he wrote an abbreviated version of the work, which he titled "Gleanings from Snow
Country", that shortened the novel to a few spare pages, a length that placed it among his
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January 1935. Kawabata later wrote that he could not finish his manuscript by the submission deadline of this literary journal, and decided to keep writing and submit a second version of this segment, titled
484:, noted scholar of Japanese literature whose English translation of the novel was published in 1956, described the work as "perhaps Kawabata's masterpiece." According to him, the novel reminds one of
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during the fire at the end of the novel. This beauty often leads to
Shimamura acting cold or cruel, as when he calls Komako a "good woman" after observing her in the moonlight.
418:
Shimamura's purpose for going to the onsen is meeting a young woman, Komako, with whom he had a brief encounter during his previous stay. Although she wasn't employed as a
351:, a form to which Kawabata devoted particular attention for more than 50 years. An English translation of "Gleanings from Snow Country" was published in 1988 by
196:. The novel is considered a classic work of Japanese literature and was among the three novels the Nobel Committee cited in 1968, when Kawabata was awarded the
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this beauty makes the oblivious to the world around them: e.g. after observing Yoko's eyes in the train, or seeing the
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said of "Mr. Kawabata's beautifully economical novel," "This is a finely written book, excellently translated."
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Kawabata continued to write about the characters, and five more segments were published over the next years:
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Finally, in 1948, the novel reached its final form, an integration of nine separately published works.
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and worked on the novel there. The room in the hotel where he was staying is preserved as a museum.
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stated: "He has fashioned an idyll out of unpromising material," while Eileen Fraser of the
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received favorable reviews both at time of its publishing, and over the following years.
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The novel opens with the protagonist of the novel, Shimamura, riding a train to a remote
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Komako's hopes of a better and happier life with
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Matsuei, on whom
Kawabata is said to have based the character Komako in the novel.
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The Moon in the Water: Understanding
Tanizaki, Kawabata, and Mishima
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403:. (Kawabata did not mention the name of the town in his novel.)
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901:. New York: Knopf. OCLC: 3623808. Paperback. (translated by
675:"Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972): Tradition versus Modernity"
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Kawabata, Yasunari (1988). "Gleanings from Snow Country".
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May 1937. He combined these segments into a "complete"
912:. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle. OCLC: 29197673. Paperback.
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559:"The Nobel Prize in Literature 1968"
331:Kawabata himself visited the Yuzawa
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648:"Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata"
1068:The House of the Sleeping Beauties
763:Dinamika: Jurnal Sastra Dan Budaya
192:is a novel by the Japanese author
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721:"The Tyranny of Beauty: Kawabata"
637:, first published 25 January 1975
240:to the general-interest magazine
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532:Asenlund, Dan (3 January 2015).
757:Cahyaningati, Desi Tri (2018).
389:that takes place in the remote
220:("Mirror of the Evening Scene")
510:"...perhaps his finest work."
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673:DeVere Brown, Sidney (1988).
238:("Mirror of a White Morning")
208:Gwenn Boardman Petersen uses
21:Snow country (disambiguation)
1239:20th-century Japanese novels
841:(Japanese pocket ed.).
385:dilettante and a provincial
1244:Novels by Yasunari Kawabata
1020:The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa
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342:Kawabata again returned to
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16:Novel by Yasunari Kawabata
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843:Iwanami Shoten Publishing
500:Times Literary Supplement
198:Nobel Prize in Literature
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125:Published in English
105:1935–1937 (serialization)
55:
1234:Japanese-language novels
1119:Palm-of-the-Hand Stories
719:Phillips, Brian (2006).
617:Palm-of-the-Hand Stories
357:Palm-of-the-Hand Stories
349:Palm-of-the-Hand Stories
269:appeared in the journal
1185:The Dancing Girl of Izu
1145:The Dancing Girl of Izu
1012:The Dancing Girl of Izu
903:Edward G. Seidensticker
1169:With Beauty and Sorrow
679:World Literature Today
375:
213:first segment, titled
1161:Twin Sisters of Kyoto
1137:Sound of the Mountain
934:. New York: Vintage.
370:
282:("Miscanthus Flower")
1254:Novels set in hotels
810:complete-review.com/
482:Edward Seidensticker
355:, in the collection
248:several days later.
234:Shiroi Asa no Kagami
71:Edward Seidensticker
19:For other uses, see
1259:Novels about geisha
1249:Novels set in Japan
1031:(1935–1937), (1947)
958:TravelJapanBlog.com
862:Publication history
619:. J. Martin Holman.
446:Japanese militarism
258:("Story" or "Tale")
216:Yugeshiki no Kagami
187:[jɯkiꜜɡɯɲi]
42:Original title
28:
1264:Shōwa-period works
1224:1935 short stories
1084:Beauty and Sadness
835:Kawabata, Yasunari
376:
305:October 1936; and
297:("Pillow of Fire")
267:("Futile Efforts")
1211:
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1177:Woman of the Lake
997:Yasunari Kawabata
725:The Hudson Review
629:Fox Butterfield,
314:was published in
312:("Handball Song")
194:Yasunari Kawabata
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36:Yasunari Kawabata
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876:Japan portal
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828:Bibliography
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508:Snow Country
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504:Jason Cowley
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435:Major themes
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372:Onsen geisha
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344:Snow Country
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321:
302:Bungeishunjū
293:Hi no Makura
284:appeared in
278:Kaya no Hana
272:Nihon Hyoron
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226:Bungeishunjū
222:appeared in
210:Snow Country
209:
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163:Snow Country
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1229:1948 novels
1129:Adaptations
1087:(1961–1963)
1055:(1951–1954)
1047:(1949–1954)
1039:(1949–1952)
588:(Honolulu:
538:Japan Times
506:has called
1218:Categories
925:0140181180
769:(1): 637.
685:(3): 376.
601:Petersen,
582:Petersen,
543:18 October
514:References
399:) town of
391:hot spring
287:Chuo Koron
254:Monogatari
67:Translator
1092:Dandelion
995:Works by
815:6 January
790:6 January
785:191983933
742:6 January
704:6 January
658:6 January
568:6 January
496:The Times
477:Reception
467:Milky Way
308:Temariuta
139:Paperback
1060:The Lake
839:Yukiguni
837:(1952).
737:20464602
699:40144283
603:The Moon
454:snowplow
177:Yukiguni
81:Japanese
77:Language
49:Yukiguni
1111:One Arm
154:3623808
137:Print (
1204:(2011)
1196:(1980)
1188:(1974)
1180:(1966)
1172:(1965)
1164:(1963)
1156:(1957)
1148:(1954)
1140:(1954)
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1063:(1954)
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1004:Novels
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908:1957,
897:1956,
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783:
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460:Beauty
420:geisha
412:ballet
401:Yuzawa
387:geisha
32:Author
781:S2CID
733:JSTOR
695:JSTOR
486:haiku
450:train
408:onsen
396:onsen
383:Tokyo
335:onsen
317:Kaizō
244:Kaizō
119:Japan
91:Novel
87:Genre
1193:Koto
936:ISBN
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847:ISBN
817:2021
792:2021
744:2021
706:2021
660:2021
570:2021
545:2015
452:, a
363:Plot
263:Toro
260:and
183:IPA:
148:OCLC
129:1956
108:1948
771:doi
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299:in
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