American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016, will take part in the Fuji Rock Festival to be held from Friday to Sunday at Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture.
The town of Yuzawa is known as the setting of the novel "Yukiguni (Snow Country)" written by Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972) who also won the literature prize in 1968.
Locals in the town expect that Dylan's visit will be a great opportunity to make the town known to the rest of the world thanks to the town's ties to the two Nobel laureates. Dylan will perform in Japan for the first time since he won the Nobel prize. His last performance was held in April 2016.
The festival is well known as an outdoor music festival held in summer. This is the 20th time it has been held at the Naeba Ski Resort. Dylan's performance is scheduled for Sunday evening.
From 1934 to 1937, Kawabata made several visits to Yuzawa from Tokyo. "The long border tunnel," in the opening lines of "Snow Country" is believed to be the Shimizu Tunnel on the JR Joetsu Line that connects Gunma and Niigata prefectures.
During each of his visits to Yuzawa, Kawabata stayed at the Japanese-style ryokan Takahan. It is said the townscape that could be seen from the ryokan was used as a reference for writing the novel. The room where Kawabata stayed is called Kasumi-no-ma. The interior decoration of the room is preserved as it was at that time.
The ryokan has also been visited by overseas tourists who have read translated versions of "Yukiguni."
The ryokan's manager, Kenichi Oyama, welcomes Dylan's performance at the ski resort. "It is our honor that another legendary star will visit Yuzawa," Oyama said.
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