- The Old Capital
infobox book
name = The Old Capital
title_orig = 古都
"Koto"
author =Yasunari Kawabata
translator =J. Martin Holman
country =Japan
language = Japanese
genre =Novel
publisher = Shoemaker and Hoard Press
pub_date = 1962
english_pub_date = 1987
media type = Print (paperback )
preceded_by =The House of the Sleeping Beauties
followed_by = Beauty and Sadness"The Old Capital" (translated English title of the Japanese "Koto" 古都, which refers to the city
Kyoto 京都) is a novel byYasunari Kawabata originally published in1962 . It was first translated into English in1987 byJ. Martin Holman . Holman's newly-revised edition of his translation was published in February 2006 by Shoemaker and Hoard Press. Although Kawabata considered it his abnormal product, it shares the same themes carried from his other novels."The Old Capital" was one of only three novels cited by the Nobel Committee in awarding the 1968 Prize for Literature to Kawabata. The other two wereSnow Country andThousand Cranes .Chieko Sada is the daughter of Takichiro and Shige, who operate a
kimono wholesale business inKyoto . Now twenty, Chieko has known for years that she was afoundling adopted by Takichiro and Shige. Soon after a chance encounter atYasaka Shrine , Chieko learns of a twin sister Naeko, who had remained in her homevillage in Kitayama working in themountain forest s north of the city. The identical looks of Chieko and Naeko confuse Hideo, a traditional weaver, who is a potential suitor of Chieko. The novel, one of the last that Kawabata completed before his death, examines themes common to much of his literature-the gulf between the sexes and the anxiety its recognition brings. It also addresses other themes, such as yearning for a pure, virginal ideal, the linking of nature and man, setting and character--notions for which "The Old Capital" offers even deeper resonance as it acknowledges and explores the necessarily ironic and often seductive relationship between innovation and tradition among the post-War artists of the old capital city of Kyoto as they confront disorienting changes in society and taste that they deplore even as they feel their attraction.The novel was adapted in 1963 into a Japanese
feature film known in English under the title "Twin Sisters of Kyoto ". Directed byNoboru Nakamura , it was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film . A second film adaptation was made in 1980 by directorKon Ichikawa . The movie the was last in which actressMomoe Yamaguchi appeared before she retired to marry her co-star, Tomokazu Miura.External links
* [http://www.shoemakerhoard.com/catalog/old_capital.html Shoemaker and Hoard Press]
* [http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/koto/ Koto (TV Asashi 2-hour Drama)]
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