Plenty of Nothing

Kawabata and Rodin

Yasunari Kawabata examines Auguste Rodin's "Hand of a Woman". Which would make a perfectly good title for a Kawabata story. Source.

Kawabata's Karuizawa House

Yasunari Kawabata's house in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture is being demolished. He bought the place from a British diplomat, and wrote some of his books there, notably The Lake. This photo shows him outside in 1959. His main residence was in Kamakura. Source.

Jido

Still from The Sound of the Mountain (1954).

    Shingo put on his glasses and started to untwist the cord; and the moment he could see them clearly the hair and lips of the jido mask struck him as so beautiful that he wanted to cry out in surprise.

    When Suzumoto had left, Eiko came to his desk.

    "Isn't it beautiful."

    Eiko nodded silently.

    "Put it on for a minute."

    "But that would be all wrong. Here I am in foreign clothes." When Shingo handed her the mask, however, she put it on and tied the cord.

    "Move your head, very gently."

    Standing before him, Eiko moved her head this way and that.

    "Good. Very good." The words came of their own accord. Even with so little movement, the mask quite came to life. Eiko had on a russet dress, and her hair sent waves cascading at the sides of the mask, but she had taken on a charm that held him captive.

    "Is that enough?"

    "Yes." Shingo immediately sent Eiko out to buy a reference work on No masks.

Kawabata, The Sound of the Mountain (trans. Edward Seidensticker), pages 85-6.

Izu Dancer Cosplay

Kawabata's story "The Dancing Girl of Izu" starts off just here, at the north entrance to the Amagi Tunnel. They held a dance festival there in 2010. Source.

At Haneda Airport

Yasunari Kawabata and Mrs Kawabata at Haneda Airport on the way to the Nobel ceremony in Sweden, October 1968. Source.

Karuizawa

The past few weeks the place name Karuizawa has cropped up. Turns out it's a small resort town in the hills of Nagano that became popular after it was recommended by the 19th-Century Canadian missionary A.C. Shaw, who built a chapel there. You can see why he liked it, it looks so much like Canadian Cottage Country. I've seen the name mentioned in an anecdote about Yasunari Kawabata in Donald Keene's memoirs, and in a short story by Banana Yoshimoto, and looking back through the files, in volume seven of Genshiken. In every instance the place is connected to sexual desire in some way, which would explain why it's a popular place to get married.

Kawabata's House

Outside Kawabata's house in Kamakura. It's still a private residence, so you can't go in. Source.

A Letter for Kawabata

    Something in Kawabata craved solitude, but he also enjoyed going to Tokyo bars. Once, quite by accident, we met in a bar. The next time I saw him he expressed pleasure in having seen me there, as he had been afraid I was too serious.

    On another occasion, I had an unexpected glimpse into his private life. A hostess in a bar asked if it was true I had a house in Karuizawa. Although I was surprised by the question, I admitted that I had. She surprised me even more by saying, "I have a favor to ask I can't ask of anyone else. Please do it. I'll clean your house or do anything else you ask." We agreed to meet the next day at my hotel.

    She appeared as promised and gave me a letter. She asked that when I was next in Karuizawa that I give it to Kawabata, adding that it should be when Mrs. Kawabata was not present. I accepted the letter, though I felt uncomfortable. I took it with me to Karuizawa and had it in my pocket when I visited Kawabata. At a certain moment Mrs. Kawabata went into the kitchen. This was my chance, but I stopped. I had no idea of the contents of the letter, but from the manner of the hostess, it probably contained something that would upset Mrs. Kawabata. Because I felt affection for her but not for the hostess, I did not give it to him. I often have mulled over my decision. Did I act out of cowardice? Did I deprive Kawabata of comfort in his loneliness? And why did I not refuse the hostess's request in the first place?

    I shall never know the answer to these questions. I had inadvertently become involved in the private life of a great man and lacked the wisdom to act with assurance.

Donald Keene, Chronicles of My Life, pages 147-48.

Yasunari Kawaiibata

Source. See also.

Kawabata Stayed Here

A blogger from Taiwan visits a Kawazu inn where Kawabata stayed.