Mishima's Sea of Fertility never ceases to impress me, and this is no exception. The second novel in the cycle, Shigekuni Honda, now an affluent judge, encounters a boy who may or may not be the reincarnation of his childhood friend Matsugae Kiyoaki. ( )

This is an intense, complex novel written by one of Japan's foremost modern writers as the second book in the Sea of Fertility tetralogy. Considered as the strongest book in the series, it is set in the early 1930s and deals with Japanese fanaticism in the years that led to war. The story revolves around a young patriot-fanatic, steeped in bushido (samurai code of conduct), who believes that Japan's integrity is being corrupted by a group of leading industrialists who have usurped the Emperor's power. His inspiration is driven by the story of the League of the Divine Wind, a group of samurai in the late 1900s who opposed the reforms and changes in the society including what they believed to be a dilution of the samurai code, brought about by Japan's opening up to the West.
Isao, the hero in this novel, believes that the only way to restore the Emperor to his rightful place and to purge the evil that has permeated society, is to follow the steps of the League -- eliminate the corrupt business leaders and the sacrificing of lives of pure instruments, young men as himself whose purity of purpose and single-minded devotion to the Emperor were without peer. Isao is characterized almost as divine in his utter simplicity of belief and determination to achieve perfection through seppuku. On the other hand, these, combined with his naiveté made for a dangerous and volatile mix.

This is my first Mishima, and i find his writing superb, masterly. The tetralogy is composed of different stories about the several reincarnations of one person, each time with a focus on a different theme. Each book, though, is stand-alone. The presence of certain personalities and subtle layers of interrelationships between people and between events provide the link to the different phases/stories, and give context to the overall story and character development. How Mishima adeptly interweaves all these is simply first-rate.

This novel immensely fascinated me because it mirrors Mishima's ideology and the events he instigated along the course of his adult life, highlighting in a coup attempt he led aimed at restoring the powers of the Emperor, which ended in his own long dreamed-of seppuku. It was, for him, the most fitting last act to a life devoted to mythifying himself. ( )

Second novel in Mishima's Sea of Fertility tetralogy. ( )

The second in Mishima's "Sea of Fertility" series. A bit weaker than the first book. ( )