Edward Seidensticker, noted scholar of Japanese literature whose English translation of the novel was published in 1956, described the work as "perhaps Kawabata's masterpiece." According to him, the novel reminds one of haiku, both for its many delicate contrapuntal touches and its use of brief scenes to tell a larger story.
Snow Country received favorable reviews both at time of its publishing, and over the following years. The Times stated: "He has fashioned an idyll out of unpromising material," while Eileen Fraser of the Times Literary Supplement said of "Mr. Kawabata's beautifully economical novel," "This is a finely written book, excellently translated." Jason Cowley has called Snow Country "...perhaps his finest work."[11]
