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novels writing trend points to a new direction. However, this massive influence of European novels could not change the individuality of most Japanese writers in
preserving their long and persistent Japanese literary tradition. One of them is Yasunari Kawabata 1899-1972, known for his The Izu Dancer 1926, Snow
Country 1937, Thousands Cranes 1952, Sound of the Mountain 1957, and Old Capital 1962. Later, his Snow Country, Thousand Cranes and Old Capital
have become his masterpieces and are proven captured many hearts successfully due to his brilliant achievement in winning the Nobel Prize of Literature in
1968 .
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Later, Kawabata’s victory has evoked the eagerness of other Japanese writers to write and publish their literary works in English. As the result, Japanese
literature becomes another branch of literary works that has splashed different colors on the canvas of modern World of Literature.
2. Yasunari Kawabat a’s Life and Works 1899-1972
Yasunari Kawabata is known as one of the modern Japanese writers that also won Nobel Prize of Literature in 1968. Since his works are to be explored in
this study, it is important to discuss Kawabata’s biography and works. Besides, his position in Japanese Literature also needs to be defined, along with his success
in winning the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1968. Yasunari Kawabata was born on 14 June 1899 in a wealthy family in
Osaka, Japan.
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His father’s name is Eikichi Kawabata-a prominent physician who passed away because of tuberculosis when Kawabata was only two years old.
Then he became an orphan when his mother also passed away at his age of three.
78
Cornyetz 13.
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Keene, Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature of the Modern Era 786.
35
Next, his grandmother passed away when he was seven and followed by his only sister when he was nine which later left him in the hand of his grandfather who
also passed away when he was fourteen. Consequently, his family death has made him not only as an orphan, but also as a ‘charity boy’ that is dependent on the
favors of more distant relative.
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Besides, these misfortune episodes in Kawabata’s life have given him experiences of loneliness and rootlessness in such
a very young age. In other words, it can be said that his childhood is painted with the sorrow of mourn and the humiliation of scratched pride. Therefore, some
scholars regard his trauma in losing his beloved family members has become the background of the thick sense of loss and regret that later can be felt in his works.
After losing his grandfather, Kawabata moved to middle school dormitory. Then, he started studying literature in the English Literature Department of Tōkyō
Imperial University in 1920. Unfortunately, he was then transferred to the Department of Japanese Literature because of his lack of attendance in class. He
graduated in 1924 from university and then started to produce many literary works. Actually, Kawabata has written many literary works in different genres.
However, only his ‘major’ writings that will be discussed in this section. The list of his magnificent works is started with a novel entitled Izu no Doriko or The Izu
Dancer written in 1927 and later followed by Asakusa Kurenaidan or The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa in 1930. Then, he got married in 1931 and lived in Kamakura,
Southwest of Tokyo. The next writing of Kawabata, Yukiguni or Snow Country which published in 1937 earned him Nobel Prize of Literature in 1968, along with
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Starrs, Soundings in Time: The Fictive Art of Kawabata Yasunari 30.
36
two others of Kawabata’s famous writings: Senbazuru or Thousands Cranes in 1952 and Koto or The Old Capital in 1962. Yukiguni then followed by Yama no
Oto or Sound of the Mountain and Meijin or The Master of Go in 1954. Their success was followed by Nemureru Bijo or House of the Sleeping Beauty in 1961.
Next, Utsukushisa to Kanashimi to or Beauty and Sadness, written in 1965 had become another work that proved Kawabata’s skill in writing novel. Besides those
‘major’ works, Kawabata also wrote many short stories. During his life, Kawabata had written 140 ‘mini’ short stories which called palm-of-the-hand-stories related
to their brevity as if fitted on one’s hand. Later, Lane Dunlop and J. Martin Holman published his 70 ‘mini’ short stories written from 1923 until 1972 in
English in 1988. Despite the brevity of those writings, the ‘reflection’ of Kawabata’s magnificent talent in narrating them has left unforgettable strong
impressions for his readers. Kawabata himself is regarded as an important figure in the history of
Japanese literature. He is known as a Japanese writer who also becomes one of the founders of shin kankaku ha or Neo-Sensualist or New Senses School that
opposed the dominant realistic school of writing of Japanese writers along with Yokomitsu Riichi 1898-1947 and Kobayashi Hideo 1902-1983.
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This school consists of a group of Japanese young writers that develops the new techniques of
literary expression in writing which involved the use of language as a means to express sensory experience.
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Moreover, it is mentioned in another source that
81
Starrs, Modernism and Japanese Culture, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011 153.
82
ibid., p. 153.
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Kawabata’s loyalty towards the use of sensory perception, influenced by Neo- Sensualist, has led to the world exploration and all entities that live in it through
his unique spectacles of various perceptual senses.
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This exploration can be found in his writings through the characterizations in the stories that are often
described in harmonious contrasts, such as: the ultimate beauty of a woman that is described through the shine of his dark long hair which is as dark as night sky on
her white glowing skin or even the brittleness of her gentle touch on the rough rock’s surface. Later, his journey to be one of most important figures in Japanese
literature is started by publishing several important journals since 1924. At first, he published a journal called Bungei Jidai or The Literary Age with Yokomitsu
Riichi 1898-1947 in 1924-1927. This journal has 32 issues and becomes the medium of a new movement in Modern Japanese literature. At first, Bungei Jidai
was published in small scale and considered as modernist and bourgeois journals. It is said that Kawabata’s decision in choosing Bungei Jidai as a title is related to
the shift of “religious age to literary age” that rises his optimist hope that literary works can be used as the means of salvation as religion did in the past.
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Kawabata believes that Japanese literary works which are rich of ancient tradition wrapped in Zen Buddhism teachings are able to provide spiritual enlightenments
as well as religion for many people. Unfortunately, the publication of Bungei Jidai was collapsed in 1927 due to the rise of proletarian literature. Next, Kawabata
also published another journal in 1933-1944 and continued in 1947 up to present that was called Bunga Kukai or The Literary Circle with other ‘major’ writers like
Fusao Hayashi, Kazuo Hirotzu, Kȏ ji Uno, Rintarȏ Takeda and Hideo Kobayashi.
83
Cornyetz 18.
84
Starrs, Modernism and Japanese Culture 157.
38
Even though Kawabata is known for his loyalty towards Japanese literary tradition, Kawabata is also interested in European literature. Later, he wrote a
movie script for Teinosuke Kinugasa’s movie entitled Kurita Ippèji or A Page of Madness in 1926. Besides, Kawabata also joined some organizations. In 1953,
Kawabata became the member of the Art Academy of Japan. Next, he was appointed as a chairman of P.E.N club of Japan in 1957. At several congresses,
Kawabata had become the representation of Japanese delegate. Further, Kawabata’s significant position in Modern Japanese Literature is being confirmed
by his great achievement in winning the Nobel Prize Award of Literature in 1968. He becomes the first Japanese writer who won the Nobel Prize Award of
Literature in spite of other potential Japanese writers. At first, Kawabata’s friend named Yukio Mishima who was nominated as the winner but it was reconsidered
due to the fact that Mishima was young and a leftist. Therefore, Kawabata was recommended instead of Mishima. The Nobel committees regarded Kawabata as a
‘safer’ winner than Mishima related to his ‘radical’ political views and his young age. Even Kawabata was described as a writer “whose age seemed to guarantee
that he would not harbor radical political views”.
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Because of his magnificent achievement, Yasunari Kawabata Bungaku Shō was established in 1973 by
Yasunari Kawabata Memorial Association to honor him as the first Japanese writer who won the Nobel Prize of Literature.
As he grew older, Kawabata suffered poor health. Two years after his friend-Yukio Mishimas suicide, Kawabata committed suicide at his home in
Zushi by gassing himself on April 16, 1972 and left no note. There are some
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Keene, Five Modern Japanese Novelist 25.
39
speculations that arise related to the cause of Kawabata’s suicide. One says that Kawabata has killed himself because of the guilty feeling that he has for Mishima
related to his Nobel Prize Literature winning in 1968- a burden that is hardly bear.
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While some other say that his death is related to his obsession in transcending death for the rest of his life that he does not want to surrender
himself to the agonizing-the humiliating form of death which involves slow process of mental and physical decreasing that once he saw had victimized his
grandfather.
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Despite those speculations, the cause of Kawabata’s death remains unsolved up to know.
Apart from his mysterious death, Kawabata has proven that Japanese literary works can be put in the same level of European literature through his
achievement in winning the Nobel Prize of Literature Award in 1968. The award itself has called world attention towards the existence of Japanese Literature as an
equal branch of literature among other major branches of literature, such as: British and American Literature. Besides, the award has another special meaning
for Japanese society. It is related to 100
th
anniversary of
Meiji Restoration which has brought meaningful changes in Japanese culture and its position in the world.
Further, Kawabata’s contribution toward the development of Japanese literature as a branch of Japanese culture cannot be separated with the Japanese
literary tradition and art convention which are influenced by Zen Buddhism teaching. As mentioned by Daisetz T. Suzuki that Buddhism as the “original
86
ibid., p. 26.
87
Starrs, Soundings in Time: The Fictive Art of Kawabata Yasunari 31.
40
source” of Zen Buddhism has entered into the history and life of Japanese people and deeply penetrated into the cultural values in every phase of the Japanese life
aspects.
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It is even stated that “imagining Japan without Zen Buddhism is just like seeing an empty desolate place”. As Suzuki mentioned in the following:
If we want to see the degree to which Buddhism has entered into the history and life of the Japanese people, let us imagine that all the temples and the treasures sheltered therein
completely destroyed. Then we should feel what a desolate place Japan would be, in spite of all her natural beauty and kindly disposed people. The country would then look like a
deserted house with no furniture, no pictures, no screens, no sculptures, no tapestries, no gardens, no flower arrangements, no Nō plays, no art of tea and so on.
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In other words, it can be said that Kawabata’s writings which written in a rich sense of haiku and Japanese culture are also influenced by the presence of
Zen Buddhism teaching. Related to this fact, the development of Zen Buddhism in Japan and also its significant influence toward Japanese literature, particularly
Kawabata’s writings need to be discussed further.
3. The Development of Zen Buddhism and Its Influence towards Japanese Literature
