雪国(ゆきぐに)

ゆきぐに
noun
snow country; snowy region
geography
1. snow country; snowy region
A region that receives heavy snowfall, especially the areas along the Sea of Japan coast in northern Honshū, such as Niigata, Akita, and Yamagata prefectures. Also the title of Kawabata Yasunari's famous novel.
新潟(にいがた)は雪国(ゆきぐに)として知(し)られている。
Niigata is known as snow country.
雪国(ゆきぐに)の暮(く)らしには独特(どくとく)の知恵(ちえ)がある。
Life in snow country has its own unique wisdom.
川端(かわばた)康成(やすなり)の『雪国(ゆきぐに)』は、国境(くにざかい)の長(なが)いトンネルを抜(ぬ)けると雪国(ゆきぐに)であった、という書(か)き出(だ)しで有名(ゆうめい)だ。
Kawabata Yasunari's Snow Country is famous for its opening line about emerging from a long tunnel at the provincial border into snow country.

Cultural note

雪国(ゆきぐに) typically refers to the Sea of Japan side of northern Honshū, which receives extremely heavy snowfall due to moisture-laden winds from the sea hitting the mountain ranges. Prefectures like 新潟(にいがた), 秋田(あきた), 山形(やまがた), and 富山(とやま) are representative 雪国(ゆきぐに) areas.

The word is also inseparable from 川端(かわばた)康成(やすなり)'s 1937 novel 『雪国(ゆきぐに)』(Snow Country), one of the most famous works of modern Japanese literature.

Common collocations

Related Words

Related: 豪雪地帯(ごうせつちたい) (heavy snowfall region)
general
Added 2026.3.2 17:27 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01
14500/14608_yukiguni