The House of the Sleeping Beauties House of the Sleeping Beauties

Author(s) Original title Country Language Genre(s) Publication date

Yasunari Kawabata

Nemureru Bijo' Japan Japanese Novella 1961

House of the Sleeping Beauties is a 1961 novella by the Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata.[1] A story about a lonely man, Old Eguchi, who continuously visits the House of the Sleeping Beauties in hope of something more. Plot The titular house is an establishment where old men pay to sleep besides young girls that had been narcotized and happen to be naked, the sleeping beauties. The old men are expected to take sleeping pills and share the bed for a whole night with a girl without attempting anything of "bad taste" like "putting a finger inside their mouths". Eguchi is presented with a different girl each time he visits the house because of the short notice of his visits. He discovers that all girls are virgins which somehow compels him to comply with the house rules. Each girl is different and the descriptions of his actions are mixed with the dreams that he has sleeping besides the girls.

The Master of Go

1981 Perigee Books edition The Master of Go is a novel by the Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata, first published in serial form in 1951. Titled Meijin () in its original Japanese, Kawabata considered it his finest work, although it is in contrast with his other works. Plot It is a semi-fictional chronicle of the lengthy 1938 "retirement game" of Go by the respected master Honinbo Shsai, against the up-and-coming player Minoru Kitani (although the latter's name is changed to Otak in the book). It was the last game of the master Shsai's career, a lengthy struggle which took almost six months to complete; he narrowly lost to his younger challenger, to die a little over a year thereafter. Themes Kawabata had actually reported on the match for the Mainichi newspaper chain, and some sections of the book are reworked versions of his original newspaper columns. The Japanese word used to describe the book is shsetsu, which may be translated as "chronicle-novel", but it is mostly true to life. The book has many layers of meaning, more so than Kawabata's other works. As well as simply describing the game, on the surface there are the inherent themes of the struggle between the older player whose powers are fading, and his younger challenger; and also the clash between the differing playing styles, and the personalities in which they are to some degree rooted. The book also reflects the tension between old traditions and new pragmatism - for example, commenting upon the rigid rules governing the contest, the author writes: From the way of Go, the beauty of Japan and the Orient had fled. Everything had become science and regulation.

Finally, as a retelling of a climactic struggle, translator Edward Seidensticker considers it a symbolic parallel to the defeat of Japan in World War II, an event which affected Kawabata deeply. Kawabata began work on the book during the war, but did not complete it until well after the end of it. The game, as actually played in real life, lasted 237 moves, and is documented in the book by means of diagrams. Kitani Minoru, playing Black, won by 5 points. The game can be downloaded in .sgf format. The book is frequently used by western Go players as a starting point to explore the place of Go in Japanese society and it is commonly recommended to younger players.

Palm-of-the-Hand Stories

Author: Yasunari Kawabata First Published: 1988 Type of Work: Short Stories Genres: Short fiction

It is impossible to generalize about the cornucopia of palm-of-the-hand stories by Yasunari Kawabata collected in this entrancing volume. Written over a period of fifty years, the seventy stories translated here represent about half of Kawabatas output in this, his favorite prose form. Their titles give some indication of their enigmatic nature: A Saw and Childbirth, The Incident of the Dead Face, The Silverberry Thief, The Sparrows Matchmaking, Morning Nails, Lavatory Buddhahood, The Younger Sisters Clothes, A Pet Dogs Safe Birthing. Kawabata, renowned in the West for his novels such as THOUSAND CRANES, is clearly a master as well of this much briefer form. In a page or two or three, he conveys worlds that are limpid, poignant, complete; people the reader cares about immediately; seasons whose crisp air or flowering trees are evoked in a few well-honed words as evocative as the spontaneous brush strokes of a Sumi painter. Individually, each of these stories is a gem--dazzling like a diamond, bottomless like an opal, elusive like a star sapphire. None reveals itself all at once; some remain mysterious, while others expose myriad faces. Together, Kawabatas palm-of-the-hand stories make up a richly varied jeweled net that it is a luxury to regard, and perhaps begin to unravel, at ones leisure.

Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata

Thousand Cranes is a Japanese novel from the 1950s. It begins when a young man, Kikuji, attends a tea ceremony at the invitation of Chikako, the former mistress of his father. While there, he meets Mrs Ota, another lover of his father, and her daughter, Fumiko. Kikuji is also embarrassed to realise that Chikako has arranged the ceremony in order for him to meet Miss Inamura, a beautiful girl whom Chikako hopes he will marry, and who is carrying a cloth decorated with the pattern of a thousand cranes. However, despite his attraction to Miss Inamura, Kikuji is equally fascinated with Mrs Ota and her daughter and, rather surprisingly, becomes involved in a relationship with Mrs Ota. This opening scene at the tea ceremony is orchestrated by the manipulative Chikako (who I found a memorable and very unlikeable character, as she is so interfering and tactless). It brings all the characters together and sets in motion the story of destruction that follows. What then happens between Kikuji, Mrs Ota and Fumiko seems to be destined, the result of a family curse. Miss Inamura, the girl with the thousand crane handkerchief, is seen by Kikuji as pure and clean, untouched by the histories that affect Mrs Ota and Chikako. However, he resists Chikakos attempts to arrange their marriage. I felt that Kikuji seemed to be drawn to the complexities of the past and the unresolved relationships of his father, rather than wishing to start again with his own life. The idea of inheritance arises again and again in the novel, and I think this is symbolised in the tea bowls that used to belong to Kikujis father. At the end of the novel, two of the bowls seem to represent male and female, Kikujis father and Mrs Ota, or Kikuji himself and Fumiko. The book suggests how treasured objects can be handed down the generations and that passions can also be passed on from parent to child in a warped version which causes guilt and regret. It is noticeable that the generations keep blurring together; Kikuji feels similar to his father, while Fumiko often reminds him of her mother.

Thousand Cranes is sparsely written and understated but at the same time contains moments of strong emotion or violence. It is full of images that are at times ethereal and delicate, at times sinister. Although it evokes an ancient, traditional world, it also brings in aspects of contemporary 1950s life, and I found this an unusual combination. Yasunari Kawabatas writing creates a melancholy, poetic feeling in its descriptions of memories of a lost love or moments of natural beauty. Id certainly read other books by the same author. (I read this for the Japanese Literature Book Group at In Spring it is the Dawn).

THE Old CaPiTaL -

The Old Capital tells the story of Chieko, the only daughter of shop owners in Kyoto. Growing up, Chieko was told by her parents that they stole her from her parents. However a chance encounter with a woman from the cedar logging village reveals the truth about her past and her birth. While Chiekos life unfolds throughout the book, she, I believe is but the vehicle by which we are allowed to discover the storys true protagonist: Kyoto, the Old Capital. In the midst of the family dramaof keeping a traditional wholesaler shop in the midst of the modern world, marrying off Chieko, and discovering Chieko is a TwinKawabata paid attention to the surroundings with detail.