Spring snow

Author: (Japanese) Yukio Mishima
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-10-01
Features: Tsuyoshi, born into a marquess family, lacks the courage to accept the proposal of Choko, the daughter of an earl. After Choko is betrothed to Prince Tadayoshi of the Domyo Palace by imperial decree, they maintain contact through their old servant, Ryoko. Choko becomes pregnant, and her father fears the scandal will be exposed, so he sends her to the Gekishu-ji Temple in Nara to hide. However, Choko cuts her hair and becomes a nun at the temple. With the help of his friends, Tsuyoshi goes to Gekishu-ji Temple to meet Choko but is rejected by her. The next day in Tokyo, exhausted and heartbroken, he leaves this world. In this pure love story, the author weaves the opposition of "elegant transgression" and "the joy of desecration." Mishima himself considered Spring Snow a warring-era love novel, and Kawabata Yasunari praised it as "a modern The Tale of Genji."