A young Japanese woman/girl falls in love with an older man/one who is beyond her social class. She writes all her feelings as journal entries/poems (maybe in letters to him?). Her love is unrequited but she remains strong in her sense of self as well as in her love for him. The plot reminds me very much of Snow Country, but I do not think it is the same book, since the book I am looking for was in my VERY conservative Christian elementary/high school library, in the young adult fiction section. The illustration on the cover is in a traditional Japanese style, as were the minimal illustrations throughout. The book is short (about 100 pages, give or take) and small in size. Snow drops and/or cherry blossoms were a trope throughout the book and may have been part of the title and/or cover illustration.