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Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata is a love tale drenched in a beautifully depressing tone that can be condensed into one word: futility. The novel won Kawabata the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986. Snow Country allows readers to dip their toes into the vast world of Japanese literature, as it is a classic work that explores its common themes of love, nature, innocence, and the arts.
At the beginning of the book, Shimamura, the protagonist, looks out the train windows and sighs at the twilight, which is nothing more than a mirage. Everything that happens in his relationship with Komako builds upon the illusion. In the desolate snow country, Shimamura does nothing more than immerse himself in the illusion, admiring Komako’s stunning yet austere beauty.
The everlasting snow in the village strips away hope from people like Shimamura and Komako, so they seek comfort in love. Shimamura lives a wealthy life in a prosperous city, but he lacks any sort of passion. His heart is like still water; he falls in love with a short enthusiasm, only to be forgotten quickly. His greatest sorrow is that he knows himself too well and sees the futility too clearly, so he pulls himself away from hatred, love, and resentment. Shimamura knows that Komako’s love and sustenance for him are completely illusory, yet he accepts it happily and carefully chooses a time to leave.
There are many details in the novel that allude to Komako’s state of being: the delicate sewing box and the cabinet of straight tungsten wood, both of which are remnants of her life in Tokyo. She is skilled at playing the shamisen, a three-stringed traditional Japanese instrument, and is in fact the best in the village, but she is unknown anywhere else. She is unable to feel fulfilled and depicts herself as the failure of her city. She seduces Shimamura intentionally because he embodies the ideal life in Tokyo — a life Komako yearns for. Komako loves Shimamura with a passion symbolic to women in Japanese literature. Her manufactured love is built on her hopes; she never feels as if her actions are in vain, as long as there is a vague hope. Her mistake is that she roots her hope of salvation in a man who does not even have the ability to help himself.
Along with this idea of desperate love, many other hallmarks of Japanese literature lead the novel’s progression. The theme of nature that is prominent in many other Japanese works is connected to Komako through the presentation of Shimamura’s desires and the reflection of Komako’s character. In addition, the pursuit of innocence and the arts supports every decision made by all the characters. Snow Country can be the introductory gateway to Japanese literature, especially for anyone interested in exploring its common themes as well as Japanese culture on the whole.
