Spring Snow (Haru no yuki), directed by Isao Yukisada, is a Japanese film set in 1912. The focus is on romantic love between two members of the nobility, Kiyoaki Matsugae (played by Satoshi Tsumabuki) and Satoko Ayakura (played by Yuko Takeuchi). As small children, they have a special friendship and promise to meet together if ever parted, and they share two halves of an artistic card to make the pledge concrete. Members of the nobility, of course, lost their economic and political power during the Meiji Restoration of 1867, so both families are struggle to survive financially. Midteen Kiyoaki has enrolled in military school, where his best friend (and lover in the Yukio Mishima novel on the which film is based) is Shigekuni Honda (played by Sousuki Takaoka), who provides support over life’s difficulties, especially when Satoko is betrothed to a prince of the royal court. Disconsolate in view of his intense love for Satoko, Kiyoaki asks permission to see her for one last time. During the encounter, Kiyoaki forces sex upon a willing Satoko, pleading “I will accept any punishment” in response to her warning that he is treading on dangerous ground. The pregnancy is kept secret, however, at the suggestion of Satoko’s tutor, Tadeshina (played by Michiyo Okusu). But when Satoko becomes exasperated at being continually told what to do, she fires Tadeshina, who retaliates by revealing that Satoko is with child. After Satoko confirms the fact, which will surely cause ruin to both the Matsugae and Ayakura families, the prince’s advisors suggest that Satoko should have an abortion. Soon, Satoko boards a train for Nara, on the pretext of visiting a member of her family before her wedding. When Kiyoaki appears just as the train is pulling out of Tokyo station, she gives him her half of the card, as if to say that they will never meet again in this life. But after the abortion, Satoko decides to become a nun at the Buddhist temple in Nara; she is accepted on condition that she will never see Kiyoaki again. Subsequently, a newspaper article appears, stating that the planned marriage was canceled because Satoko was discovered to be mentally ill. When Honda hears about the article, he presents the newspaper to Kiyoaki, who insists on going to Nara to see Satoko. But Kiyoaki now suffers from tuberculosis, with blood in his sputum, so filmviewers will find that his trip to Nara that filmviewers is perhaps the most touching in a film of fantastic beauty in which the slow movements of the protagonists convey eloquently the depth of their love. Although suicide seems an obvious option for the couple, there are more interesting options, thanks to the genius of Mishima’s romantic novel on which Spring Snow is based. MH