Facts : 1 Biography Kawabata in 1917 Born in Osaka, Japan, into a well-established doctor s family, Yasunari was orphaned when he was four, after which he lived with his grandparents Facts : 2 He had an older sister who was taken in by an aunt, and whom he met only once thereafter, at the age of ten (July 1909) (she died when he was 11) Facts : 3 Kawabata s grandmother died when he was seven (September 1906), and his grandfather when he was fifteen (May 1914) Facts : 4 Having lost all close relatives, he moved in with his mother s family (the Kurodas) Facts : 5 However, in January 1916, he moved into a boarding house near the junior high school (comparable to a modern high school) to which he had formerly commuted by train Facts : 6 He often gives the impression that his characters have built up a wall around them that moves them into isolation Facts : 7 Indeed, this does not have to be taken literally, but it does show the type of emotional insecurity that Kawabata felt, especially experiencing two painful love affairs at a young age Facts : 8 His unsent love letter to her was recently found at his former residence in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture Facts : 9 He succeeded in the exam the same year and entered the Humanities Faculty as an English major (July 1920) Facts : 10 Kawabata Yasunari Museum Kawabata graduated in 1924, by which time he had already caught the attention of Kikuchi Kan and other noted writers and editors through his submissions to Kikuchi s literary magazine, the Bungei Shunju Facts : 11 In addition to fiction writing, Kawabata also worked as a reporter, most notably for the Mainichi Shimbun Facts : 12 Although he refused to participate in the militaristic fervor that accompanied World War II, he also demonstrated little interest in postwar political reforms Facts : 13 Along with the death of all his family while he was young, Kawabata suggested that the War was one of the greatest influences on his work, stating he would be able to write only elegies in postwar Japan Facts : 14 Still, many commentators detect little thematic change between Kawabata s prewar and postwar writings Facts : 15 Kawabata apparently committed suicide in 1972 by gassing himself, but a number of close associates, including his widow, consider his death to have been accidental Facts : 16 One thesis, as advanced by Donald Richie, was that he mistakenly unplugged the gas tap while preparing a bath Facts : 17 Many theories have been advanced as to his potential reasons
