Spring Snow

A luxurious special edition of one of the greatest romances in Japanese literature.

Tokyo, 1912. Love blooms in the rule-bound world of Japan's aristocracy.

Kiyoaki falls for the exquisite and spirited Satoko. Although he has been raised by an aristocratic family, he does not belong in this world as she does. As the world around them changes and traditional powers wane, Kiyoaki is torn between the old and the new. Only when Satoko becomes engaged to a royal prince does Kiyoaki realise the magnitude of his passion.

‘An austere love story, probably my favourite of his novels’ David Mitchell

VINTAGE JAPANESE CLASSICS - nine masterpieces of Japanese fiction in gorgeous new gift editions.

TRANSLATED BY MICHAEL GALLAGHER

About the Author

Yukio Mishima was born into a samurai family and imbued with the code of complete control over mind and body, and loyalty to the Emperor – the same code that produced the austerity and self-sacrifice of Zen. He wrote countless short stories and thirty-three plays, in some of which he acted. Several films have been made from his novels, including The Sound of Waves; Enjo, which was based on The Temple of the Golden Pavilion; and The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea. Among his other works are the novels Confessions of a Mask and Thirst For Love and the short-story collections Death in Midsummer and Acts of Worship.

The Sea of Fertility tetralogy, however, is his masterpiece. After Mishima conceived the idea of The Sea of Fertility in 1964, he frequently said he would die when it was completed. On November 25th, 1970, the day he completed The Decay of the Angel, the last novel of the cycle, Mishima committed seppuku (ritual suicide) at the age of forty-five.