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Dear Arthur Glass,
I also doubt that VN was interested
in Japanese literature. Most of his references
to Japan are negative.
I have no idea whether or not Kawabata
read Nabokov, but I think he possibly did--at least *Lolita*. The
Japanese translation of *Lolita* was published in 1959 creating
a sensation, and the theme of pedophilia must be attractive to
Kawabata. He could read the novel also in English, if he
would. Some of his characters are pedophiliac,
as
Григорий Чхартишвили ( Grigorii
Chkhartishvili) finds a HH-to-be in the nice
young protagonist of "The Dancing Girl of Izu." It might be
interesting to compare *Lolita* and "House of the Sleeping Beauties" by
means of necrophilia. I am sorry, but I cannot be much help.
I think Yuichi Isahaya, who kindly sent me the short essay by
Чхартишвили, probably knows better.
Best wishes,
Akiko Nakata