An interview with the Museum of Modern Japanese Literature revealed that there was a memorandum of creation that seems to have considered the ending of "Snow Country," which is considered to be the masterpiece of Nobel Prize in Literature writer Yasunari Kawabata.
There is also a description that shows a different development from the published work, and it is attracting attention as a first-class material showing the process of the birth of a masterpiece.
The creative memo was confirmed in a survey conducted by the Museum of Modern Japanese Literature for the exhibition that will open from the 2nd.
The paper, which is about 20 cm in length and width, has a list of words and phrases used for "snow country" such as "maize color", and the ideas actually used are erased by drawing a line, which is a characteristic seen in Kawabata's creative process.
"Snow Country" is a work that depicts the main character "Shimamura", who lives on the property of his parents, visiting a snowy town with a hot spring town and deepening his relationship with two women, along with a delicate and beautiful scene description. ..
At the end, in the light of the fire, the main character looks up at the "Milky Way" that seems to flow down, but in this memo, "I will kill Shimamura for the crazy Yoko, Komako." It can be seen that Kawabata was planning a shrine involving the main character.
Kunihiko Nakajima, President of The Museum of Modern Japanese Literature, said, "I was surprised at what was unknown until now." Snow Country "was a work in which Kawabata constantly pursued the ideal as unfinished, such as cutting the beginning. There will be discussions about various possibilities, such as whether "Snow Country" itself was really complete. "