The novel Thousand Cranes (in Japanese, Senbazuru) was written by Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata. It was originally published in serialized form between 1949 and 1951 and compiled with another of Kawabata’s novels, Snow Country (1948), in book form in 1952. The narrative follows Kikuji, an orphaned young businessman, as he navigates the legacy of his father’s infidelity against the backdrop of traditional Japanese tea culture. It explores themes of Decay of Traditions and Values, Legacy: Imperfect Transmission and Inevitability, and The Juxtaposition of Beauty and Ugliness.

Kawabata is one of the most celebrated and influential Japanese writers of the 20th century and the first Japanese person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was the president of Japanese PEN from 1948 to 1965, an officer of the French Order of Arts and Letters in 1960, and a recipient of the Japanese Order of Culture in 1961. Thousand Cranes is widely recognized as one of Kawabata’s most accomplished novels and is studied worldwide to this day. The novel was selected for inclusion in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Collection of Representative Works and was one of three works (along with Snow Country and The Old Capital) cited by the committee that awarded Kawabata the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968.

This guide uses the 2011 Penguin Classics publication of the 1958 translation by Edward G. Seidensticker. In keeping with the stylistic choice of the translation, this guide uses the conventional Japanese name order, wherein the surname precedes the given name.

Content Warning: The source material includes discussion of suicide.

Plot Summary

Thousand Cranes opens with Mitani Kikuji, a young businessman, attending a tea ceremony organized by his deceased father’s former lover, Kurimoto Chikako. Chikako is friendly toward Kikuji, although his feelings toward her are tainted by a memory of seeing the large birthmark covering one of her breasts. She intends to match Kikuji in marriage with one of her students, a young woman named Inamura Yukiko. However, Kikuji is instead drawn to Mrs. Ota, another of his father’s former lovers, who is attending the ceremony with her daughter, Fumiko. The ceremony is tense with the history of the two women, and Kikuji and Fumiko are caught in the middle.

After the ceremony, Mrs. Ota is waiting for Kikuji outside. They talk about Kikuji’s father, and end up spending the night together at an inn. Although Kikuji is conflicted at the idea of sleeping with his father’s lover, he can’t deny his attraction to Mrs. Ota or the connection between them. Chikako attempts to keep Mrs. Ota and Fumiko away from Kikuji and pushes Kikuji to meet with Yukiko again and commit to the proposed match between them. Fumiko also attempts to dissuade her mother and Kikuji from continuing their affair, but Kikuji and the now ailing Mrs. Ota meet again. Overcome with sorrow and shame, Mrs. Ota dies by suicide that night.

Shocked by the death of the woman with whom he felt such a strong connection, Kikuji visits Fumiko to give his condolences and attempt to process the loss. Fumiko begs Kikuji to forgive her mother, although he considers himself the guiltier party between them. Fumiko explains that assigning blame is pointless. Both Fumiko and Kikuji are orphans now, and Kikuji feels drawn to Fumiko in her mother’s stead as they grieve in their own ways. Fumiko seems similarly affected by Kikuji, gifting him several pieces of her mother’s tea ware collection. However she also tries to distance herself; she sells her mother’s house and moves away without informing Kikuji, prompting him to track her down so that they can continue to meet and discuss memories of their parents.

Chikako continues to push her way into Kikuji’s life through this period, pressuring him to accept a marriage with Yukiko. At a tense tea ceremony that Chikako conducts for both Kikuji and Fumiko, Kikuji finally rejects the match with Yukiko outright. Chikako visits Kikuji again upon his return from a short trip and informs him that both Yukiko and Fumiko have married other men. Kikuji is shocked and hurt, although he attempts to conceal this from Chikako. Fumiko later contacts Kikuji about a private letter that she sent to him and is shocked when he congratulates on her marriage, informing him that Chikako lied about her nuptials. She agrees to meet with Kikuji at his house. Once there, she tears up the letter that she sent before Kikuji can read it and demands that he destroy the tea bowl that she gave him, although he protests. They attempt to have a tea ceremony using two bowls. They then realize that his father and her mother likely used these bowls during their affair, and Fumiko casts aside her mother’s bowl, breaking it.

It is implied that Fumiko and Kikuji sleep together that night; however, when Kikuji seeks out Fumiko the following day, he is informed that she has not shown up to work and has left her lodgings. As the book ends, Kikuji is struck with a horrible sense of guilt and fears that Fumiko may follow in her mother’s footsteps and die by suicide.