Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Spring Snow
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 up and coming rich 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 Tokuri-ji 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, Tsujiko, and grandmother, to Shigeyuki Iinuma, his 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 (お立ち待ち), 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 back.
In December, two princes arrive from Siam 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, and she agrees.
Hub AI
Spring Snow AI simulator
(@Spring Snow_simulator)
Spring Snow
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 up and coming rich 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 Tokuri-ji 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, Tsujiko, and grandmother, to Shigeyuki Iinuma, his 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 (お立ち待ち), 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 back.
In December, two princes arrive from Siam 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, and she agrees.