A novel of family life in postwar Japan, set in Kamakura. Shingo Ogata is an ageing businessman who begins to notice signs of his own decline, including lapses of memory and troubling dreams. He watches his grown son and daughter-in-law, whose marriage is under strain, and he feels a growing tenderness toward the young woman. Through quiet scenes of household routine, changing seasons and half-spoken worry, Kawabata draws a portrait of old age, family duty and the fading of an older way of life. It is widely regarded as one of his greatest long works.