Shimamura is a native of Tokyo. He is a freelancer with a well-off family and a wife and children. He studies Western dance. Shimamura, who lives a carefree life, often has a sense of illusion and feels that many things are in vain. However, there is one thing that he shows initiative in his boring life, which is to constantly ride to the snow country to meet his lover Juzi.
The first time the two met was in early spring. At that time, Shimamura went to the snow country to climb mountains. At the hot spring bath, he sent someone to call a geisha. Soon, a girl who could play the shamisen came, and this was Komako. Komako is 19 years old, has a delicate appearance, and looks very clean. Shimamura even thinks that the curls of her toes are clean. The hems of geisha's clothes are usually spread on the ground, which looks better but makes movement inconvenient. At that time, the hem of Komako's clothes had not been spread on the ground, which showed that she was not a real geisha at that time.
Komako is very beautiful, she can understand the psychology of men very well, but she is also very simple, and sometimes reveals the frankness of a fireworks woman. This complex combination attracts Shimamura. The lonely Shimamura couldn't help but feel attached to Juzi and chatted with her. Juzi talked about her own life experience. She came from a poor family and was sold to Tokyo to accompany others. Soon, a benefactor redeemed her life. Juzi had planned to learn skills and make a living as a dance master. However, the benefactor passed away soon. Juzi, who had lost her financial resources, could only return to her hometown and make a living by occasionally being invited to attend banquets.
The next day, Ju Zi came to play with Dao Cun. Dao Cun said that he wanted to be an innocent friend with her, so he only chatted without asking for sex in order to get along with her longer. Rather than being quickly disappointed and bored. These words are actually Shimamura teasing Komako. Dao Cun's real idea is that when looking for a woman, it's best to find a real woman to have fun with, so that you won't feel guilty when you break up in the future. To put it bluntly, Dao Cun doesn't want to cause trouble for himself. However, Juzi believed these words truthfully, which made Shimamura, who has a bohemian nature, very interesting.
That night was a rainy night, and Juzi, who was drunk at the banquet, broke into Shimamura's room again. Juzi shouted Dao Cun's name sharply, fell into Dao Cun's arms, and said that she liked him. Dao Cun wanted to be intimate with Ju Zi, but Ju Zi rejected him again. The two people struggled for a while, but nothing happened in the end. Before dawn, Juzi combed her hair and left secretly before the people in the inn got up. Shimamura promised that he would visit her again and returned to Tokyo that day.
On their first trip to the snow country, Shimamura and Komako are attracted to each other. Dao Cun's original life seemed to be a peaceful backwater, but Ju Zi's vitality and freshness stirred up his dull and boring soul, and he felt very fresh. At the same time, Juzi is young and beautiful, and her youth stirs up Shimamura's sensuality, making him unable to stop. In one sentence, Shimamura was attracted by Komako's light and heat. Why does Juzi like Shimamura? The reasons are manifold. Dao Cun didn't ask for sex when he first saw him. Ju Zi felt that this person was unusual; Dao Cun carried the aura of a big city, and the city was a place where Ju Zi had worked hard but failed to stay. Therefore, Ju Zi considered big cities Dao Cun's yearning was projected onto Dao Cun; Dao Cun was able to talk eloquently about dance, literature, drama and movies, as if he was very knowledgeable. Koma Zi found a soulmate in loneliness. Therefore, unknowingly, Juzi's feelings for Shimamura became deeper.
After Shimamura left, although Juzi didn't quite believe in his promise, he kept silently counting the days until they were separated in his diary. More than half a year later, Shimamura, who had never forgotten Juzi, finally took a car to the Snow Country again. This is the fragment written at the beginning of this book.
On this bus, Shimamura saw a very beautiful girl, which led to the core image of the book: the mirror. There was a brief stop before the train arrived at the station. Shimamura was admiring the vast snowy scenery outside the train window. A girl stood up from the seat opposite and opened the glass window, letting in a blast of cold air. The girl had a few words with the station master. Her voice was beautiful, with a sense of sadness. The loud voice echoed in the snowy night for a long time, attracting Dao Cun's attention.
The bored Shimamura began to observe the girl.
He found that the girl was accompanying a very ill man, taking care of him like a loving mother. Shimamura couldn't figure out the relationship between the two people for a while. After a few hours, the sky became dark, the lights in the carriage came on, and the glass windows were covered with moisture. Dao Cun unconsciously polished the glass and the glass window turned into a mirror, so Dao Cun could see the girl and the patient in the mirror. There are two layers of scenery in the mirror. Behind it is the mountains and fields in the dusk that are constantly passing outside the window. In front is the girl's face reflected in the mirror. The two layers of scenery, one real and one virtual, shake and melt together like superimposed images in a movie. It depicts a very illusory world. When the lights in the mountains reflected the girl's face, the indescribable beauty made Shimamura's heart tremble. Shimamura gradually forgot the existence of the mirror and only felt that the girl was floating in the passing scenery. He was deeply attracted by this magical power.
"Mirror" is the most important metaphor and image in "Snow Country", appearing at almost every key node. Snow Country was originally serialized in the form of short stories, and the titles at the time were "Mirror of Twilight" and "Mirror of Day". After the serialization was completed, the chapters that were not closely related were compiled into a single book after revisions. . In Chinese culture, there is the image of "mirror flowers and water moon", which is a metaphor for something wonderful but unavailable. The mirror in "Snow Country" also has this meaning. Many things it reflects, such as girls and love, are beautiful but unreal. Not lasting.
Half an hour later, the girl, the patient and Dao Cun got out of the car together. Dao Cun checked into the hot spring inn. A slim girl was waiting for him. She was Ju Zi. After 199 days of separation, Dao Cun returned here with Feixue. Ju Zi could not resist Dao Cun's enthusiasm, and the two finally had a relationship and became true lovers. During the party, Juzi suddenly said: "How sad!" and stayed up all night. Dao Cun feels that Ju Zi is a bit neurotic. In fact, the reason why Ju Zi is so sentimental is because she likes Dao Cun. Juzi has long known that the gap between two people cannot be bridged, and he also agrees with the saying that "only those who don't be lovers can last forever." Now that I have broken the vow, I feel in my heart that this relationship will not end well, so I sigh sadly.
The next morning when Shimamura and Juzi were together, Juzi looked in the mirror at the dressing table. Shimamura saw the white snow outside and Komako's rosy and beautiful face in the mirror. Even though he had real skin-to-skin contact with the person in the mirror, Shimamura still couldn't get rid of this "beautiful but confused" feeling. At this time, Shimamura did not have a clear understanding of the relationship between himself and Juzi.
During the day, Shimamura went out for a walk. This is a poor village, with low houses, heavy snow, and the girls on the roadside don’t even have socks. Shimamura met Juzi and went to her house. Juzi stayed at her dance master's house. The room was simple but very clean. Shimamura found that Komako's life was extremely serious and hard-working. She insists on keeping a diary, "recording everything truthfully without concealing anything"; she practices calligraphy, reads books, and takes notes; Komako still keeps the fine paulownia wood cabinet from Tokyo and carefully uses a gold-lacquered luxury sewing box to do sewing , even the laundry was neatly folded. She said, "As long as the environment permits, I still want to live a cleaner life." This attitude makes Shimamura, a swinger, admired.
In addition to Juzi, a dance master who suffered a stroke and her son Xingnan also lived in this place. Xing Nan is the patient Dao Cun met on the train. The beautiful girl who took care of Xing Nan is also here, she is Zi Zi. Ye Zi lives nearby. She has no career, and her relationship with Xing Nan is unclear. However, Dao Cun thinks she is Xing Nan's lover. Ye Zi was busy taking care of the patients and had no time to talk to Dao Cun, so Dao Cun left Ju Zi's home with a feeling of loss.
Not long after Dao Cun left Ju Zi's house, he met a blind girl who was doing massage. The blind girl told Dao Cun that Gingnan and Ju Zi were actually an unmarried couple. In order to earn money for her husband to take care of her illness, Juzi became a real geisha only six months ago. Shimamura was surprised when he heard this. As a nihilist, Shimamura feels that it is futile for Komako to write a diary to retain memories, and it is futile to like the city.
When Ju Zi hugs the dead Ye Zi, he is actually saying goodbye to his pure past forever.
Juzi hugged Ye Zi and screamed wildly. Shimamura wanted to get closer to Juzi, but was unexpectedly pushed aside by a group of men. When Shimamura stood firm and looked up, the Milky Way seemed to burst into his heart.
This book ends here. The Milky Way pours into Shimamura's heart, which is a reflection of Shimamura's psychological activities. Shimamura was very sad when Ye Zi died, but he quickly rose from the pain and thought that after Ye Zi's body was destroyed, his spirit was absolutely free, so he felt a sense of enlightenment. The Milky Way falling from the sky is the embodiment of this inner ethereal feeling.
Kawabata Yasunari once said, "I am Komako." It can be seen that Komako is the real protagonist of "Snow Country", and Shimamura himself is just a mirror. Why did Kawabata Yasunari choose to present this story from the perspective of a secondary character? This is of course because, from the perspective of a bystander, it is better to show the most characteristic vitality and painful side of Komako. But more importantly, Kawabata Yasumoto's own sense of powerlessness is condensed in Shimamura.