# Is "Snow Country (Yukiguni)" by Yasunari Kawabata a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Snow Country (Yukiguni) by Yasunari Kawabata (Sōgensha, 1937) is identified by: Japanese first edition in book form, Sōgensha, Tokyo, June 1937, collecting the work that had been serialized across literary journals from 1935 to 1937 (with Kawabata revising the journal texts for this 'complete' 1937 book). The Japanese Sōgensha 1937 book is the true first in book form; Kawabata continued revising, with the definitive 'complete' text appearing from Sōgensha in 1948.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Japanese first edition in book form, Sōgensha, Tokyo, June 1937, collecting the work that had been serialized across literary journals from 1935 to 1937 (with Kawabata revising the journal texts for this 'complete' 1937 book)
- Identified by the 1937 colophon and original obi/slipcase where present
- Publisher imprint reads Sōgensha
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Yasunari Kawabata |
| Publisher | Sōgensha |
| Year | 1937 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Japanese first edition in book form, Sōgensha, Tokyo, June 1937, collecting the work that had been serialized across literary journals from… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Japanese first edition in book form, Sōgensha, Tokyo, June 1937, collecting the work that had been serialized across literary journals from 1935 to 1937 (with Kawabata revising the journal texts for this 'complete' 1937 book). Identified by the 1937 colophon and original obi/slipcase where present.

## Is this the true first?
The Japanese Sōgensha 1937 book is the true first in book form; Kawabata continued revising, with the definitive 'complete' text appearing from Sōgensha in 1948. The first English (Knopf, 1956, translated by Edward Seidensticker) is the English-language first thus and the version most often collected in the West.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Because Kawabata revised repeatedly, 'first edition' is complicated: the 1937 first book and the 1948 'complete' version are different textual states. The Seidensticker English translation (Knopf 1956) is not the world-first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Snow Country (Yukiguni)* by Yasunari Kawabata a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/snow-country-yukiguni
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.