Snow Country Lesson Plan

What do you think is the core of Snow Country? In other words, what aspect of the story is the most important, central element to Kawabata's storytelling?

Some students may focus on the amount of time and care Kawabata spends describing the setting (also factoring in the title) and therefore think that the snow and the fantasy world of the hot-springs town is at the core. Shimamura gets to step away from the reality of his life and live—and in some ways create—a new reality with Komako. This reality feels less real in some ways than his life at home with his wife, and perhaps that is why he pursues it.

Other students may suggest that the intimacy between Komako and...