Edwin O. Reischauer, University Professor, yesterday hailed the selection of Yasunari Kawabata for the Nobel Prize in literature as a long overdue recognition of Japanese literature.
The Nobel Prize, Reischauer said, has been confined by a "parochial viewpoint" to the Western languages. Reischauer met Kawabata on several occasions while ambassador to Japan.
Reischauer said Kawabata's writing follows in the Japanese modern literary tradition. The "intensely personal" work, Reischauer said, deals with "individual psychology, rather than social-political problems."
The selection of Kawabata, an author little known to Western readers, surprised those expecting the choice of more voguish Western writers such as Gunter Grass or Andre Malraux.
John K. Fairbank '29, Director of the East Asian Research Center, termed the choice "grand," adding however that he has never read any of Kawabata's works.
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