Spring Snow
Encyclopedia
is a 1966 novel
by Yukio Mishima
, the first in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy
. Mishima did extensive research, including visits to Enshō-ji
in Nara
, to prepare for the novel.
, 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.
: including a torchlight procession witnessed by Honda, a photograph of memorial services at Tokuri Temple 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
.
On Sunday, 27 October 1912, the 18-year-old Kiyoaki and Honda are talking on an island in the ornamental lake on the estate when they see Kiyoaki's mother, her maids, and two guests: Satoko Ayakura, the 20-year-old daughter of a count, and her great-aunt, the Abbess of Gesshu. The Ayakura family is one of twenty-eight of the rank of Urin, and they live in Azabu
. Kiyoaki is aware that Satoko has a crush on him, and pretends indifference to her. Shortly after they all meet, there is a bad omen: they see a dead black dog at the top of a high waterfall. The Abbess offers to pray for it. Satoko insists on picking flowers for the dog with Kiyoaki. While Satoko is alone with Kiyoaki, she blurts out: "Kiyo, what would you do if all of a sudden I weren't here any more?" He is discomfited by the inexplicable question, and resents the fact that she has startled him with it.
Back at the house, the Abbess delivers a sermon on the doctrine of Yuishiki or the consciousness-only theory of Hosso Buddhism
, telling the parable of Yuan Hsiao, the man who, in pitch darkness, drank from a skull
by accident. She argues the significance of an object is bestowed by the observer.
Ten days later, on 6 November, Kiyoaki has dinner with his parents; they discuss his otachimachi (divination
ritual), that had been held on 17 August 1909, and mention that Satoko has just rejected an offer of marriage. This explains her mysterious question. Kiyoaki and his father play billiards
, then go for a stroll that reminds Kiyoaki of his father's former womanising. The marquis tries to persuade him to go with him to a brothel and he walks away in disgust. Later he cannot sleep, resolving to take revenge on Satoko for deliberately perplexing him. We are shown Kiyoaki's bedroom: a screen bearing poems of Han Shan, and a carved jade
parrot. We can also see that Kiyoaki has three moles in a row on the left side of his torso, a fact that becomes important in later books.
to study at the Peers School, and are given rooms by the Matsugaes. They are Prince Pattanadid (a younger brother of the new king, Rama VI) and his cousin, Prince Kridsada (a grandson of Rama IV), nicknamed "Chao P." and "Kri", respectively. Chao P is deeply in love with Kri's sister, Princess Chantrapa ("Ying Chan"), and wears an emerald ring she gave him as a present. They ask Kiyoaki if he has a sweetheart and he names Satoko, although he has just sent her a "wildly insulting letter" the day before, in which he claims falsely that he has recently visited a brothel for the first time and has lost all respect for women, including her. To save the situation, he telephones Satoko and makes her promise to burn any letter she receives from him.
Chapter 7 describes Honda's stuffy household, and includes his musings on the Laws of Manu, which he has been required to study, and an anecdote about a second cousin, Fusako, who was caught making a pass at him at a family gathering.
The two princes meet Satoko at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo. She is courteous, and Kiyoaki concludes that she has burnt the letter. Chapter 9 portrays Shigeyuki Iinuma, a reactionary 23-year-old from Kagoshima
, who has been Kiyoaki's tutor for the last six years. He bemoans his ineffectiveness, and the decadent state of Japan, while worshipping at the Matsugae family's shrine. Shortly after the new year, Kiyoaki reveals to him that he knows of his affair with a maid, Miné, and blackmails him into concealing his own trysts with Satoko. Satoko's maid, old Tadeshina, promises to help.
In Chapter 11, we are given an extract from Kiyoaki's dream-diary which predicts events in later books.
to see a sick relative; taking advantage of this, she persuades Kiyoaki to skip school and join her on a rickshaw ride through the snow. They kiss for the first time. When they pass the parade ground of the Azabu 3rd Regiment he has a vision of thousands of ghostly soldiers standing upon it, reproducing the scene in the photograph described in Chapter 1. Miles away, Honda has a similar premonitory shudder, seeing his friend's empty desk in the schoolroom. The next morning, they meet very early in the school grounds and have a long conversation in which Honda expresses his conviction of the reality of fate and inevitability.
In Chapter 14, it is revealed that Kiyoaki has rewarded Iinuma for his cooperation by giving him the key to the library so that the tutor can have sex with Miné there secretly. Iinuma hates him for this but accepts the arrangement. Satoko writes her first love letter, and Kiyoaki, torn between his morbid pride and his genuine passion for her, finally replies to it sincerely.
On 6 April 1913, the Marquis Matsugae holds a cherry blossom viewing party for his friend Prince (Haruhisa) Toin, inviting only Satoko and her parents, the two princes, and Baron Shinkawa and his wife. The guests are depicted as ludicrously half-Westernised. During a private moment, Satoko and Kiyoaki embrace, but suddenly Satoko turns away and spurns him, calling him childish. Infuriated, Kiyoaki tells Iinuma what has happened, and the tutor responds with a story which makes him realise that Satoko did indeed read the letter she was supposed to burn. He concludes that she has been leading him on all along in order to humiliate him.
Breaking off all contact, he eventually burns a letter from her in front of Iinuma.
In early May, Satoko visits the Toinnomiya villa by the sea and meets Prince Harunori. Formal proposals quickly follow by mail. Kiyoaki is filled with satisfaction to see Satoko, Tadeshina and Iinuma drift out of his life; and he takes pride in his lack of emotion when Iinuma tearfully takes his leave, later comparing his own ultra-correct conduct with the elegant progress of a beetle on his window-sill. The absence of Iinuma makes that year's omiyasama festival, commemorating Kiyoaki's grandfather, more perfunctory than ever.
In the meantime, the Thai princes have moved from the Matsugae household to private dormitories on the grounds of the Peers School. Chao P. asks Kiyoaki to return him his emerald ring from the marquis's safe-keeping; he has not received a letter from Ying Chan in months, and is pining for her. Kiyoaki tears up the one last letter he receives from Satoko. One day, his mother leaves for the Ayakura villa in order to congratulate the family, casually informing him that the marriage to Prince Harunori will now definitely go ahead. All of a sudden he feels emotionally shattered, and spends the next few hours in a daze. This is the turning point of the novel.
Kiyoaki goes directly to Honda and gives a full account of everything that has happened. His friend is amazed, but supportive; not long afterwards, a visit to the district court solidifies his decision not to involve himself in the drama of other people's lives.
At this time, Chao P loses his emerald ring at the Peers School. Kri insists that it has been stolen, but the prefect forces the pair to search through 200 square yards of grass in the rain. This incident prompts them to leave the school. The Marquis Matsugae, fearing that they will leave Japan with unpleasant memories, asks them not to return to Siam immediately but to join his family at their holiday villa at Kamakura
for the summer. It is there that the subject of reincarnation
is brought up for the first time, in conversations between Kri, Chao P, Honda and Kiyoaki. The liaison between Kiyoaki and Satoko is maintained by Honda, who arranges for a Ford Model T
to transport Satoko between Tokyo and Kamakura in secret. Kiyoaki has a third major prophetic dream.
The Thai princes receive a letter informing them of the death of Ying Chan. Devastated, they return to Siam a week later.
After a long period of no news, Kiyoaki is summoned to the billiard-room by his father. Tadeshina has attempted suicide, leaving a confidential note to the Marquis revealing the affair to him. At first, the Marquis talks calmly, but when Kiyoaki is unapologetic he beats his son with his billiard-cue. Kiyoaki is rescued by his grandmother; the household immediately starts to focus on limiting the damage.
Count Ayakura is strongly tempted to punish Tadeshina, but she knows too much about his secret resentment of the upstart Matsugaes, and he cannot afford to give her any encouragement to reveal it—in particular, the instruction he gave her (in 1905) that Satoko should lose her virginity before any bridegroom chosen by the Marquis should touch her.
The Marquis Matsugae meets Count Ayakura and they arrange an abortion
for Satoko in Osaka
. On the way back to Tokyo
, Satoko and her mother stop at the Gesshu Temple to see the Abbess. Satoko slips away and hides from her mother, who later discovers that she has cut off her hair and resolved to become a nun. The Abbess, who suspects that a plot against the Emperor is unfolding, hopes to thwart it by shielding Satoko. Baffled as to what to do, the weak-willed Countess returns to Tokyo for help. But neither the Count nor the Marquis succeed at removing Satoko from the convent.
During the train journey, the deathly sick Kiyoaki tells Honda: "Just now I had a dream. I'll see you again. I know it. Beneath the falls." He has written a note to his mother, asking her to give Honda his dream-diary. Two days after his return, on 2 March 1914, Kiyoaki dies at the age of 20.
Minor characters
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Yukio Mishima
Yukio Mishima
was the pen name of , a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director, also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état...
, the first in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy
The Sea of Fertility
is a tetralogy written by the Japanese author Yukio Mishima. The four novels include Spring Snow , Runaway Horses , The Temple of Dawn and The Decay of the Angel . The series, which Mishima began writing in 1964 and which was his final work, is usually thought of as his masterpiece...
. Mishima did extensive research, including visits to Enshō-ji
Enshō-ji (Nara)
is a Buddhist temple complex in Nara founded by Queen Bunchi, daughter of Emperor Go-Mizunoo, in 1656. Together with Chūgū-ji and Hokke-ji, it is considered one of the Three Yamato Monseki , or imperial temples, belonging to the Myōshin-ji school of Rinzai Zen.The temple served as model for in...
in Nara
Nara, Nara
is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...
, to prepare for the novel.
Plot
The novel is set in the early years of the Taishō periodTaisho period
The , or Taishō era, is a period in the history of Japan dating from July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign of the Taishō Emperor. The health of the new emperor was weak, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen to the Diet...
, 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
Westernization
Westernization or Westernisation , also occidentalization or occidentalisation , is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in such matters as industry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle, diet, language, alphabet,...
in the early 20th century.
The main action stretches from October 1912 to March 1914. Kiyoaki's family originated in Kagoshima
Kagoshima, Kagoshima
is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture at the southwestern tip of the Kyūshū island of Japan, and the largest city in the prefecture by some margin...
, where his dead grandfather, the former Marquis, is still revered. The family now lives in grand style near Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, with wealth acquired very recently.
Kiyoaki's world
The novel opens with images from Kiyoaki's childhood, in the years after the Russo-Japanese WarRusso-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
: including a torchlight procession witnessed by Honda, a photograph of memorial services at Tokuri Temple on 26 June 1904, a lyrical description of the Matsugae estate near Shibuya
Shibuya, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 208,371 and a population density of 13,540 persons per km². The total area is 15.11 km²....
, a visit by Emperor Meiji
Emperor Meiji
The or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...
, and an account of Kiyoaki's role as a page for Princess Kasuga during New Year's Festivities at the Imperial Palace
Kokyo
is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda area of Tokyo close to Tokyo Station and contains several buildings including the main palace , the emperor left Kyoto Imperial Palace for Tokyo...
. 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
Gakushuin
The or Peers School is an educational institution founded in Tokyo in 1877, during the Meiji period, for the education of the children of the Japanese aristocracy, though it eventually also opened its doors to the offspring of extremely wealthy commoners...
.
On Sunday, 27 October 1912, the 18-year-old Kiyoaki and Honda are talking on an island in the ornamental lake on the estate when they see Kiyoaki's mother, her maids, and two guests: Satoko Ayakura, the 20-year-old daughter of a count, and her great-aunt, the Abbess of Gesshu. The Ayakura family is one of twenty-eight of the rank of Urin, and they live in Azabu
Azabu
is an area within Minato in Tokyo, Japan, built on a marshy area of foothills south of central Tokyo. Its coverage roughly corresponds to that of the former Azabu Ward, presently consisting of nine official districts: Azabu-Jūban, Azabudai, Azabu-Nagasakachō, Azabu-Mamianachō, Nishi-Azabu,...
. Kiyoaki is aware that Satoko has a crush on him, and pretends indifference to her. Shortly after they all meet, there is a bad omen: they see a dead black dog at the top of a high waterfall. The Abbess offers to pray for it. Satoko insists on picking flowers for the dog with Kiyoaki. While Satoko is alone with Kiyoaki, she blurts out: "Kiyo, what would you do if all of a sudden I weren't here any more?" He is discomfited by the inexplicable question, and resents the fact that she has startled him with it.
Back at the house, the Abbess delivers a sermon on the doctrine of Yuishiki or the consciousness-only theory of Hosso Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, telling the parable of Yuan Hsiao, the man who, in pitch darkness, drank from a skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
by accident. She argues the significance of an object is bestowed by the observer.
Ten days later, on 6 November, Kiyoaki has dinner with his parents; they discuss his otachimachi (divination
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
ritual), that had been held on 17 August 1909, and mention that Satoko has just rejected an offer of marriage. This explains her mysterious question. Kiyoaki and his father play billiards
Billiards
Cue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...
, then go for a stroll that reminds Kiyoaki of his father's former womanising. The marquis tries to persuade him to go with him to a brothel and he walks away in disgust. Later he cannot sleep, resolving to take revenge on Satoko for deliberately perplexing him. We are shown Kiyoaki's bedroom: a screen bearing poems of Han Shan, and a carved jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
parrot. We can also see that Kiyoaki has three moles in a row on the left side of his torso, a fact that becomes important in later books.
The Siamese princes, Iinuma and Tadeshina
In December, two princes arrive from SiamThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
to study at the Peers School, and are given rooms by the Matsugaes. They are Prince Pattanadid (a younger brother of the new king, Rama VI) and his cousin, Prince Kridsada (a grandson of Rama IV), nicknamed "Chao P." and "Kri", respectively. Chao P is deeply in love with Kri's sister, Princess Chantrapa ("Ying Chan"), and wears an emerald ring she gave him as a present. They ask Kiyoaki if he has a sweetheart and he names Satoko, although he has just sent her a "wildly insulting letter" the day before, in which he claims falsely that he has recently visited a brothel for the first time and has lost all respect for women, including her. To save the situation, he telephones Satoko and makes her promise to burn any letter she receives from him.
Chapter 7 describes Honda's stuffy household, and includes his musings on the Laws of Manu, which he has been required to study, and an anecdote about a second cousin, Fusako, who was caught making a pass at him at a family gathering.
The two princes meet Satoko at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo. She is courteous, and Kiyoaki concludes that she has burnt the letter. Chapter 9 portrays Shigeyuki Iinuma, a reactionary 23-year-old from Kagoshima
Kagoshima, Kagoshima
is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture at the southwestern tip of the Kyūshū island of Japan, and the largest city in the prefecture by some margin...
, who has been Kiyoaki's tutor for the last six years. He bemoans his ineffectiveness, and the decadent state of Japan, while worshipping at the Matsugae family's shrine. Shortly after the new year, Kiyoaki reveals to him that he knows of his affair with a maid, Miné, and blackmails him into concealing his own trysts with Satoko. Satoko's maid, old Tadeshina, promises to help.
In Chapter 11, we are given an extract from Kiyoaki's dream-diary which predicts events in later books.
Kiyoaki and Satoko
One day in February, Satoko's parents travel to KyotoKyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
to see a sick relative; taking advantage of this, she persuades Kiyoaki to skip school and join her on a rickshaw ride through the snow. They kiss for the first time. When they pass the parade ground of the Azabu 3rd Regiment he has a vision of thousands of ghostly soldiers standing upon it, reproducing the scene in the photograph described in Chapter 1. Miles away, Honda has a similar premonitory shudder, seeing his friend's empty desk in the schoolroom. The next morning, they meet very early in the school grounds and have a long conversation in which Honda expresses his conviction of the reality of fate and inevitability.
In Chapter 14, it is revealed that Kiyoaki has rewarded Iinuma for his cooperation by giving him the key to the library so that the tutor can have sex with Miné there secretly. Iinuma hates him for this but accepts the arrangement. Satoko writes her first love letter, and Kiyoaki, torn between his morbid pride and his genuine passion for her, finally replies to it sincerely.
On 6 April 1913, the Marquis Matsugae holds a cherry blossom viewing party for his friend Prince (Haruhisa) Toin, inviting only Satoko and her parents, the two princes, and Baron Shinkawa and his wife. The guests are depicted as ludicrously half-Westernised. During a private moment, Satoko and Kiyoaki embrace, but suddenly Satoko turns away and spurns him, calling him childish. Infuriated, Kiyoaki tells Iinuma what has happened, and the tutor responds with a story which makes him realise that Satoko did indeed read the letter she was supposed to burn. He concludes that she has been leading him on all along in order to humiliate him.
Breaking off all contact, he eventually burns a letter from her in front of Iinuma.
Prince Harunori and Satoko
Towards the end of April, the Marquis tells Kiyoaki that Satoko is being considered as a wife for Prince Toin's third son. Kiyoaki responds with indifference. The Marquis then announces to his son's surprise that Iinuma is to be dismissed: the affair with Miné has been discovered. The same night, Kiyoaki has another predictive dream.In early May, Satoko visits the Toinnomiya villa by the sea and meets Prince Harunori. Formal proposals quickly follow by mail. Kiyoaki is filled with satisfaction to see Satoko, Tadeshina and Iinuma drift out of his life; and he takes pride in his lack of emotion when Iinuma tearfully takes his leave, later comparing his own ultra-correct conduct with the elegant progress of a beetle on his window-sill. The absence of Iinuma makes that year's omiyasama festival, commemorating Kiyoaki's grandfather, more perfunctory than ever.
In the meantime, the Thai princes have moved from the Matsugae household to private dormitories on the grounds of the Peers School. Chao P. asks Kiyoaki to return him his emerald ring from the marquis's safe-keeping; he has not received a letter from Ying Chan in months, and is pining for her. Kiyoaki tears up the one last letter he receives from Satoko. One day, his mother leaves for the Ayakura villa in order to congratulate the family, casually informing him that the marriage to Prince Harunori will now definitely go ahead. All of a sudden he feels emotionally shattered, and spends the next few hours in a daze. This is the turning point of the novel.
Kasumicho and Kamakura
He takes a rickshaw to the Ayakura villa, and, making sure his mother has left, sends for Tadeshina. Astonished, she takes him to an obscure boarding-house in Kasumicho where he threatens to show Satoko's last letter (which he tore up) to Prince Toin if she does not arrange a meeting. Three days later, he returns to the boarding-house and encounters Satoko; they make love; to Tadeshina's despair, he demands another encounter.Kiyoaki goes directly to Honda and gives a full account of everything that has happened. His friend is amazed, but supportive; not long afterwards, a visit to the district court solidifies his decision not to involve himself in the drama of other people's lives.
At this time, Chao P loses his emerald ring at the Peers School. Kri insists that it has been stolen, but the prefect forces the pair to search through 200 square yards of grass in the rain. This incident prompts them to leave the school. The Marquis Matsugae, fearing that they will leave Japan with unpleasant memories, asks them not to return to Siam immediately but to join his family at their holiday villa at Kamakura
Kamakura, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
for the summer. It is there that the subject of reincarnation
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
is brought up for the first time, in conversations between Kri, Chao P, Honda and Kiyoaki. The liaison between Kiyoaki and Satoko is maintained by Honda, who arranges for a Ford Model T
Ford Model T
The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from September 1908 to May 1927...
to transport Satoko between Tokyo and Kamakura in secret. Kiyoaki has a third major prophetic dream.
The Thai princes receive a letter informing them of the death of Ying Chan. Devastated, they return to Siam a week later.
Discovery
Tadeshina learns from the Matsugaes' steward that Kiyoaki does not possess Satoko's last letter, but continues to cover for them. In October, she realises that Satoko is pregnant, a fact they both hide from Kiyoaki. At the restaurant of the Mitsukoshi department store, they inform him that there can be no further contact. Kiyoaki and Honda, while discussing this, stumble across another bad omen: a dead mole on the path in front of them. Kiyoaki picks it up and throws it in a pond.After a long period of no news, Kiyoaki is summoned to the billiard-room by his father. Tadeshina has attempted suicide, leaving a confidential note to the Marquis revealing the affair to him. At first, the Marquis talks calmly, but when Kiyoaki is unapologetic he beats his son with his billiard-cue. Kiyoaki is rescued by his grandmother; the household immediately starts to focus on limiting the damage.
Count Ayakura is strongly tempted to punish Tadeshina, but she knows too much about his secret resentment of the upstart Matsugaes, and he cannot afford to give her any encouragement to reveal it—in particular, the instruction he gave her (in 1905) that Satoko should lose her virginity before any bridegroom chosen by the Marquis should touch her.
The Marquis Matsugae meets Count Ayakura and they arrange an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
for Satoko in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
. On the way back to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Satoko and her mother stop at the Gesshu Temple to see the Abbess. Satoko slips away and hides from her mother, who later discovers that she has cut off her hair and resolved to become a nun. The Abbess, who suspects that a plot against the Emperor is unfolding, hopes to thwart it by shielding Satoko. Baffled as to what to do, the weak-willed Countess returns to Tokyo for help. But neither the Count nor the Marquis succeed at removing Satoko from the convent.
Final events
The betrothal is cancelled with a forged medical certificate, backdated a month, declaring Satoko to be mentally ill. In February 1914, Honda gives Kiyoaki money to travel to the convent in an effort to meet Satoko. He turns up at the front door repeatedly but is always rebuffed, and his health declines as he forces himself to trudge through the snow from the inn in Obitoke to the convent and back again as a form of penance. Eventually Honda comes looking for him after receiving a telegram, and is shocked to see how ill he is; concluding that a meeting with Satoko is vital, he goes to the convent alone on February 27, but the Abbess firmly refuses to allow any such meeting, and on the same night Honda and Kiyoaki leave for Tokyo.During the train journey, the deathly sick Kiyoaki tells Honda: "Just now I had a dream. I'll see you again. I know it. Beneath the falls." He has written a note to his mother, asking her to give Honda his dream-diary. Two days after his return, on 2 March 1914, Kiyoaki dies at the age of 20.
Characters
Major characters- Kiyoaki "Kiyo" Matsugae (1895–1914)
- The Marquis and Marquise Matsugae
- The former Marquise Matsugae, Kiyo's grandmother
- Satoko Ayakura (b. 1893)
- The Count and Countess Ayakura
- Shigekuni Honda (b. 1895)
- Mr. and Mrs. Honda
- Shigeyuki Iinuma
- Mine, a maid
- Yamada, the steward
- Tadeshina, Satoko's maid
- Baron and Baroness Shinkawa
- The Abbess of Gesshu, Satoko's great-aunt
- Prince Haruhisa Toin and his wife (the Toinnomiyas)
- Prince Harunobu Toin, his third son
- Prince Kridsada "Kri"
- Prince Pattanadid "Chao Praong"
Minor characters
- Emperor MeijiEmperor MeijiThe or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...
- Princess Kasuga
- Dr. Mori
- Dr. Ozu
- Mr. Kitazaki, innkeeper
- Itsui, the friend of Honda who owns the car
- Mr Mori the driver
- Fusako, Honda's second cousin
- Tomi Masuda, Hidé, and Matsukichi Hijikata, involved in the court case
- "The Monster", the deformed son of a marquis
- a school prefect
Adaptations
- Spring Snow was made into a Japanese-languageJapanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
film, directed by Isao YukisadaIsao Yukisadafrom Kumamoto, Japan is a Japanese film director. He served as assistant director on Shunji Iwai's Love Letter, April Story, and Swallowtail Butterfly.-Director:* OPEN HOUSE * A Closing Day...
, in 2005, and shortly afterwards it was announced that it would be adapted for mangaMangaManga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
by Riyoko IkedaRiyoko Ikedais a Japanese manga artist and singer. She is included in the Year 24 Group. She was one of the most popular Japanese comic artists in the 1970s, being best known for The Rose of Versailles.- Biography :...
and serialised in the women's magazine Shukan Josei. See Spring Snow (2005 film)Spring Snow (2005 film)Spring Snow is a film adaptation of Yukio Mishima's novel Spring Snow, directed by Isao Yukisada.The cast includes Satoshi Tsumabuki as Kiyoaki Matsugae, Yūko Takeuchi as Satoko Ayakura, and Sosuke Takaoka as Shigekuni Honda.The film was nominated for nine Japanese Academy Awards...
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