After the Banquet

An aging, luxurious, independent, and straightforward Kazuo, the owner of a restaurant frequented by conservative politicians, falls in love with the aging former diplomat Noguchi, a refined supporter of reforms, and becomes his wife. What could go wrong? If the... former diplomat returns to politics, heeding the calls of a not-so-popular party, well, nearly everything. Indiscrimination in means against moral purity, loyalty to a husband against loyalty to principles — when the political turns personal, the family becomes a battlefield, love risks becoming the victim, and the threat of losing independence may prove scarier than impending loneliness. Yukio Mishima 1925–1970 — a star of 20th-century literature, the most read Japanese author in the world, a holder of brilliant talent, renowned both for his works of the broadest range and diversity of genres including novels, plays, short stories, essays, and for his astounding biography: obsession with bodybuilding, far-right political views, harakiri after a failed attempt at a monarchical coup. In 'After the Banquet' 1960, Mishima sought to show how love develops, transforms, distorts, and undermines under the influence of politics, causing a major scandal in Japanese political and social circles upon publication. Former Foreign Minister Hachiro Arita, recognizing himself in Noguchi, sued Mishima for violating his right to privacy, and this case — the first in Japan concerning writer's freedom of speech — was lost by Mishima, which some critics believe killed contemporary Japanese satire as a genre at its roots. For the first time in Russian!