"Spring Snow 春の雪" sets the scene for the tetralogy and is loaded with events and information that are irrelevant until the later books. The epic story starts at the end of the Meiji period and concerns families of the kazoku 華族 aristocracy. The subject of reincarnation, Kiyoaki, is an 18-year-old son of a family of the koushaku (marquis) 侯爵 rank. He falls in love with a childhood friend from a declining hakushaku (count) 伯爵 family, which is lower in the social hierarchy, but out of vanity refuses to admit it, until it is too late when the girl is betrothed to a royal prince. Shigekuni, the tetralogy's main observer, is the son of an esteemed judge and classmate of Kiyoaki. He acts as a logical and impartial witness to events of burning passion, struggles among classes and unsolicited westernisation, and also the knowledgeable character who initiates discussions on dreams, foretelling, (Buddhist belief of) reincarnation and political ideologies with characters such as Thai princes and the families' tutor and maids who will be key recurring characters in later volumes. It has plenty of "exotic", classical cultural and religious elements which would interest "foreign" readers on its own if one chooses to see it as a pure romance novel (the title comes from a love scene representing the pure heart and innocence), but ultimately everything is deliberately left unresolved and the story of decline, decay and nihilism truly begins at the end when Kiyoaki's death kickstarts the cycle of reincarnation and the logical Shigekuni becomes increasingly obsessed with the notion, much like spring snow eventually becomes dirty and melts away.
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