This collection of stories, plus an essay and a dance-drama, was originally published in 1958 as "Fuji no Hatsuyuki." It is late Kawabata -- most of the major works had already appeared, the author wrote much less during these years, and he died in 1972.
That these works form a meditation on death is not surprising. Many of Kawabata's works -- early and late -- are just that. He called himself a master of ceremonies at funerals, and though he was referring to duties at the demise of friends, his writing was from the earliest informed by thoughts of death.
Indeed, this awareness of transience creates the Kawabata tone. In a way it makes him "Japanese," because these people are traditionally less inclined to deny the facts of life (and death) than are those of at least several other countries. It also makes him universal, because these are facts that, like it or not, we must all face.