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Kawabata was born near Osaka, and was orphaned when he was two; he then lived with his grandparents. Kawabata's grandmother died when he was eight, and his grandfather when he was sixteen, causing him to move to his mother's hometown. He attended Tokyo Imperial University, graduating in 1924.
In addition to writing, he was also employed as a reporter, most notably by the Mainichi newspaper chain, of Osaka and Tokyo. Although he refused to participate in the militaristic fervour accompanying World War II, he was also unimpressed with the political reforms in Japan afterwards. The war was definitely one of the most important influences on him (along with the death of all his family while he was young); he said shortly afterwards that from then on he would only be able to write elegies.
He committed suicide in 1972. Many theories have been advanced as to his reasons, among them poor health, a possible illicit love affair, or the shock caused by the suicide of his friend Mishima Yukio in 1970. However, unlike Mishima, Kawabata left no note, and since he had not discussed it significantly in his writings, his motives remain unclear.
He had hoped to become a painter when he was a boy, but some of his first stories were published when he was in high school, and he decided to become a writer instead. While still a student at the University, he joined Yokomitsu Riichi in starting Bungei Jidai (The Artistic Age), a neo- Impressionist journal.
He started to achieve recognition with a number of short stories shortly after he graduated, and achieved acclaim with The Dancing Girl of Izu in 1927Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Years: 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 See also 1927 in aviation 1927 in film 1927 in literature 1927 in mu, a story which explored the dawning eroticism of young love. Most of his future works explored similar themes of love.
His first novel was Snow CountrySnow Country is the first novel by the Nobel Prize-winning Japanese author Kawabata Yasunari. Titled Yukiguni in its original Japanese, it established Kawabata as one of Japan's foremost authors, and became an instant classic It was described by Edward G., started in 1934Events January-April January 1 Alcatraz becomes a federal prison. January 7 First Flash Gordon comic strip is published. January 10 Execution of Marinus van der Lubbe January 24 Einstein visits White House January 26 The Apollo Theater opens in Harlem, Ne, and first published in installments from 1935Events January January 1 Italian colonies of Tripoli and Kyrenaika are joined together as Libya January 7 World War II: Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French foreign minister Pierre Laval conclude agreement in which each power undertakes not to oppo through 1937Events January January 1 Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua January 11 The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States. January 19 Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours,. Snow Country is a stark tale of a love affair between a Tokyo dilettante and a provincial geishaGeisha are traditional Japanese artist-entertainers. The word geisha literally means "art person" or "artisan. Geisha were very common in the 18th and 19th centuries, and are still in existence today, although their numbers are dwindling. The geisha tradi, which takes place in a remote hot-spring town somewhere on the west of the Japanese AlpsThe Japanese Alps is a mountain range in Japan, consisting of Hida Mountains, Kiso Mountains, and Akashi Mountains. The highest peaks of Japan after Fuji-san are in this range, the highest of them being Hotaka-dake at 3,190 m (10,466 ft) and Mount Shirane. It established Kawabata as one of Japan's foremost authors and became an instant classic, described by Edward G. Seidensticker as "perhaps Kawabata's masterpiece".
After the end of World War II, his success continued with novels such as Thousand Cranes (a story of ill-fated love), The Sound of the Mountain , The House of the Sleeping Beauties , and Beauty and Sadness (his last novel, also a story of passion with a dark ending).
The book which he himself considered his finest work, The Master of GoThe Master of Go is a novel by the Nobel Prize-winning Japanese author Kawabata Yasunari, first published in serial form in 1951. Titled Meijin in its original Japanese, Kawabata considered it his finest work, although it is a severe contrast with his oth ( 1951) is a severe contrast with his other works. It is a semi-fictional recounting of a major Go match in 1938, which he had actually reported on for the Mainichi newspaper chain. It was the last game of the master Shusai's career, and he lost to his younger challenger, to die a little over a year later. Although it is moving on the surface, as a retelling of a climactic struggle some readers consider it a symbolic parallel to the defeat of Japan in World War II.
As the president of Japanese P.E.N. for many years after the war, Kawabata was a driving force behind the translation of Japanese literature into English and other Western languages.