num_pages: 389
description: "A classic of Japanese literature" (Chicago Sun-Times ) and the first novel in the masterful tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility, set in 1912 Tokyo, featuring an aspiring lawyer who believes he has met the successive reincarnations of his childhood friend. It is 1912 in Tokyo, and the hermetic world of the ancient aristocracy is being breached for the first time by outsiders—rich provincial families unburdened by tradition, whose money and vitality make them formidable contenders for social and political power. Shigekuni Honda, an aspiring lawyer and his childhood friend, Kiyoaki Matsugae, are the sons of two such families. As they come of age amidst the growing tensions between old and new, Kiyoaki is plagued by his simultaneous love for and loathing of the spirited young woman Ayakura Satoko. But Kiyoaki’s true feelings only become apparent when her sudden engagement to a royal prince shows him the magnitude of his passion—and leads to a love affair both doomed and inevitable.
language: English
title: Spring Snow
titlecomplete: Spring Snow (The Sea of Fertility, #1)
characters: Satoko Ayakura, Kiyoaki Matsugae, Shigeyuki Iinuma, Shigekuni Honda
genres: Literature, Asian Literature, Classics, Japan, Novels, Asia, Japanese Literature, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance
ratings_count: 17950
places: Japan, Tokyo
series: The Sea of Fertility
awards: awardedAt: 94723200000
name: National Book Award Finalist
category: Translation
publisher: Vintage