ABSTRACT
In 1968, Kawabata Yasunari (1899-1972) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. By then, Japan already had two other Nobellaureates, both in physics, but Kawabata was the fIrst one to be so honored in literature. In asense, it was a recognition by the world of Japan's traditional sense ofbeauty, wbich Kawabata him.self also modestly suggested.
