Spring Snow
First edition (Japanese)
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| Author | Yukio Mishima |
|---|---|
| Original title |
Haru no Yuki 春の雪 |
| Translator | Michael Gallagher |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Series | The Sea of Fertility |
| Publisher | Shinchosha (orig.) & Alfred A. Knopf (Eng. trans.) |
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Publication date
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1969 |
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Published in English
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1972 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | (Eng. trans.) |
| OCLC | 207633 |
| 551.4/6 | |
| LC Class | GC2 .S83 1969 |
| Followed by | Runaway Horses |
Spring Snow (春の雪 Haru no Yuki?) is a novel by Yukio Mishima, the first in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. It was published serially in Shinchō from 1965 to 1967, and then in book form in 1969. Mishima did extensive research, including visits to Enshō-ji in Nara, to prepare for the novel.
The novel is set in the early years of the Taishō period with the reign of the Emperor Taishō, and is about the relationship between Kiyoaki Matsugae, the son of a rising nouveau-riche family, and Satoko Ayakura, the daughter of an aristocratic family fallen on hard times. Shigekuni Honda, a schoolfriend of Kiyoaki's, is the main witness to the events. The novel's themes centre on the conflicts in Japanese society caused by westernization in the early 20th century.
The main action stretches from October 1912 to March 1914. Kiyoaki's family originated in Kagoshima, where his dead grandfather, the former Marquis, is still revered. The family now lives in grand style near Tokyo, with wealth acquired very recently.
The novel opens with images from Kiyoaki's childhood, in the years after the Russo-Japanese War: including a torchlight procession witnessed by Honda, a photograph of memorial services at Tokuriji on 26 June 1904, a lyrical description of the Matsugae estate near Shibuya, a visit by Emperor Meiji, and an account of Kiyoaki's role as a page for Princess Kasuga during New Year's Festivities at the Imperial Palace. We are introduced to his mother and grandmother, to Shigeyuki Iinuma, his hostile tutor, and to the serious Honda, a friend from the Peers School.
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