Yasunari Kawabata (川端 康成 Kawabata Yasunari, June 14, 1899 – April 16, 1972) was a Japanese novelist whose spare, lyrical and subtly shaded prose won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968. He became the first Japanese to win the award. His works, which have enjoyed broad and lasting appeal, are still widely read internationally.

Biographical details

---

Kawabata was born in Osaka, and was orphaned when he was two, after which he then lived with his grandparents. He had an older sister who was taken in by an aunt. Kawabata's grandmother died when he was seven (September 1906), his sister, whom he met only once after the death of their parents, when he was ten(July 1909), and his grandfather when he was fifteen (May, 1914). Having lost all close reletives, he moved in with his mother's family (The Kurodas). However, in January of 1916, he moved into a boarding house near the junior high school (comparable to a modern high school) that he had formally commuted to by train. After graduating from junior high school in March of 1917, just before his 18th birthday, he moved to Tokyo, hoping to pass the exams of Dai-ichi Koto-gakko'(Number One High School), which was under the direction of Tokyo Imperial University. He succeded in the exam the same year and entered the humanities faculty as an English major. In July of 1920 Kawabata gradutated from the high school and began at Tokyo Imperial University the same month.

More on [ Yasunari Kawabata ]

NPR Topics: Authors

Carter's New Thriller Mixes Murder, Love And Politics
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:40:00 -0400
Novelist Stephen Carter, who is also a professor at the Yale Law School, says his latest novel, Palace Council, is a thriller, a conspiracy, a love story and historical fiction. And the process of writing it was "utterly exhausting."
Celebrating A Dutch Mystery Writer's Varied Life
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:48:00 -0400
Mystery novelist Janwillem Van de Wetering was once a motorcycle gang member in South Africa, an aspiring monk in Kyoto, Japan and a policeman in Amsterdam. The Dutch author of The Hollow-Eyed Angel, The Blond Baboon and The Maine Massacre died July 4 at the age of 77.
Author Transforms Himself From Schlub To Stud
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:00:00 -0400
They may be considered clumsy and unattractive, but one author discovers that schlubs aren't necessarily losers.
Joe Wambaugh: The Writer Who Redefined LAPD
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:24:00 -0400
Wambaugh, who spent years on the force, wrote the best-selling book The Onion Field in three months during a leave of absence from the department. Over the decades, his realistic and multidimensional portrayals of L.A. cops have helped tranform their public image.
Author Scrutinizes U.S.-Pakistan Relations
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:45:00 -0400
Pakistan has been an ally of the United States in the so-called war on terror, but some wonder whether the U.S. foreign policy toward Pakistan is really successful. Shuja Nawaz, author of Crossed Swords: Pakistan. Its Army and the Wars Within, discusses the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan, and the role of the Pakistan army in the region.
Searching For Bodies In Chelsea Cain's Portland
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400
Crime writer Chelsea Cain sees danger lurking in the most pastoral corners of the polite Northwest city she calls home. Ketzel Levine dares to search for skeletons with the writer.

Subscribe to Authors RSS feed