1. Good morning.Copy !req
2. Good morning, Mr. Mishima.
Would you like breakfast now?Copy !req
3. Not today.Copy !req
4. What about the children?Copy !req
5. Your wife's already
taken them to school.Copy !req
6. Recently I've sensedCopy !req
7. an accumulation of many thingsCopy !req
8. which cannot be expressedCopy !req
9. by an objective form like the novel. TO
SHINCHOSHA PUBLISHING CO. NOVEMBER 25, 1970Copy !req
10. Words are insufficient.Copy !req
11. So I found another form of expression.Copy !req
12. ls everything as planned?Copy !req
13. Read these in the car.Copy !req
14. I'll be right out.Copy !req
15. Did you get my letter?Copy !req
16. Don't worry.
You'll find our little drama newsworthy.Copy !req
17. And bring a photographer.Copy !req
18. When I examine my early childhood,Copy !req
19. I see myself as a boy
leaning a! the Window...Copy !req
20. forever watching a world
I was unable to change,Copy !req
21. forever hoping
it would change by itself.Copy !req
22. At seven weeks of age,
I was taken from my motherCopy !req
23. by my grandmother.Copy !req
24. Close the curtain!Copy !req
25. It's almost timeCopy !req
26. for him to visit his mother.Copy !req
27. No! I need him to rub my legs.Copy !req
28. Tell her I'm too sick this week.Copy !req
29. Next week.Copy !req
30. You would have diedCopy !req
31. in your mother's care.Copy !req
32. A delicate plant like you...Copy !req
33. must not go outdoors.Copy !req
34. If you want her so much, just go!Copy !req
35. Leave me forever!Copy !req
36. Be a good boy and rub my legs.Copy !req
37. That's wonderful.Copy !req
38. Only you can make
Grandma feel better.Copy !req
39. I looked after
my grandmother's failing health.Copy !req
40. She entertained me with stories
and provided playmates.Copy !req
41. On special occasions, she arrangedCopy !req
42. trips to the theater.Copy !req
43. - Watch it!
- Sorry.Copy !req
44. Don't apologize to these commoners.Copy !req
45. Can you believe these crowds?Copy !req
46. When I was a girl,Copy !req
47. people still had a modicum of manners.Copy !req
48. Eat your lunch.Copy !req
49. Look. All this riff-raff.Copy !req
50. You're just a fragile plant.Copy !req
51. The theater is very stimulating.
You're old enough to go now.Copy !req
52. It would have been too much
for you before.Copy !req
53. The stage made everything
more beautiful.Copy !req
54. It turned men into women.Copy !req
55. It transformed the entire world.Copy !req
56. Look this way.Copy !req
57. Look up, sweet.Copy !req
58. When I was 12,
my grandmother, then dying,Copy !req
59. permitted me to return
to the care of my mother.Copy !req
60. Later that year
I entered middle school.Copy !req
61. All right, you cowards!Copy !req
62. Who's next?Copy !req
63. Who is this? The poet?Copy !req
64. Mr. Tough.Copy !req
65. I'm shaking.Copy !req
66. - You'll get killed!
- Mama's boy!Copy !req
67. In my earliest years,
I realized life consistedCopy !req
68. of two contradictory elements.Copy !req
69. One was words,
which could change the world.Copy !req
70. The other was the world itself,
which had nothing to do with words.Copy !req
71. For the average person,Copy !req
72. the body precedes language.Copy !req
73. In my case, words came first.Copy !req
74. I can't hear a word you're saying.Copy !req
75. Your name's Mizoguchi.
I know what you want.Copy !req
76. To be friends
because we're both cripples.Copy !req
77. Your stuttering and my frog feet.Copy !req
78. That's all right. I do too.Copy !req
79. You're still a virgin, right?Copy !req
80. Yeah, I thought so.Copy !req
81. No success with girls,Copy !req
82. and not enough guts
to go to a whore.Copy !req
83. If you're looking for another virgin,
you struck out with me.Copy !req
84. Stutter! Go ahead and stutter.Copy !req
85. Virgins are beautiful,Copy !req
86. but there's nothing beautiful about you.Copy !req
87. Guys like usCopy !req
88. are just like beautiful girls.Copy !req
89. We get sick
of always being stared at.Copy !req
90. It's like...Copy !req
91. a m-m-mirror...Copy !req
92. you can't b-b-break.Copy !req
93. You're so self-important.Copy !req
94. You make too big a deal
about your stuttering.Copy !req
95. I suppose you're a damn poet.Copy !req
96. G-G-Golden Pavilion.Copy !req
97. It's too beautiful.Copy !req
98. An acolyte.Copy !req
99. Even worse.Copy !req
100. Face the fact you'll never be loved.Copy !req
101. It's the same for everybody.Copy !req
102. You can trick girls
into loving your deformityCopy !req
103. instead of hating it.Copy !req
104. Come on. I'll show you.Copy !req
105. Damn!Copy !req
106. You did that on purpose!Copy !req
107. What can I do?Copy !req
108. You just going to walk away?Copy !req
109. Help me up.Copy !req
110. Is there a doctor nearby?Copy !req
111. My house is around the corner.Copy !req
112. Suddenly I came across a pictureCopy !req
113. whose only purpose had been to lie
in wait for centuries and ambush me.Copy !req
114. The white matchless beauty
of the youth's bodyCopy !req
115. hung against the tree trunk,
his hands tied by thongs.Copy !req
116. I trembled with joy.
My loins swelled.Copy !req
117. My hand unconsciously began
a motion it had never been taught.Copy !req
118. My need to transform reality
was an urgent necessity,Copy !req
119. as important
as three meals a day or sleep.Copy !req
120. Beautiful.Copy !req
121. Mm, really.Copy !req
122. Scenic beauty is hell, isn't it?Copy !req
123. Take that one up the path
and screw her.Copy !req
124. She wants it.Copy !req
125. B-b-but how?Copy !req
126. Make her pity your stutter.Copy !req
127. Make her worship it.
That's why we're here.Copy !req
128. Stutter!Copy !req
129. Maybe she'll fall in love
with a stutterer.Copy !req
130. Do you stutter?Copy !req
131. Well, are all the deformities
here today?Copy !req
132. Let's split up.Copy !req
133. We'll meet here again in two hours.Copy !req
134. D-d-do you want to go home?Copy !req
135. He's gone off
and made her feel she's a saint.Copy !req
136. That's his usual trick.Copy !req
137. H-h-how do you know?Copy !req
138. Oh, come on.Copy !req
139. How do you think?Copy !req
140. What are you doing?Copy !req
141. What's wrong?Copy !req
142. Just as I thought.Copy !req
143. It seems you haven't
been going to school.Copy !req
144. Have you been ill?Copy !req
145. Master...Copy !req
146. That's no way
for a Zen acolyte to behave.Copy !req
147. Master...Copy !req
148. Nothing's that unbearable.Copy !req
149. You'll get over it.Copy !req
150. No. Everything...Copy !req
151. is p-p-powerless.Copy !req
152. What happened? She ran away?Copy !req
153. It was as s-s-small as this
but grew so big.Copy !req
154. It filled the world...Copy !req
155. like tremendous music.Copy !req
156. That's the p-p-power...Copy !req
157. of beauty's eternity.Copy !req
158. It poisons us.Copy !req
159. It blocks out...Copy !req
160. our lives.Copy !req
161. Please, enough of your pride!Copy !req
162. Beauty is like a rotten tooth.Copy !req
163. It rubs against your tongue, hurting,Copy !req
164. insisting on its own importance.Copy !req
165. Finally you go to a dentist
and have it pulled.Copy !req
166. Then you look
at the small bloody tooth in your handCopy !req
167. and say, “Is that all it was?”Copy !req
168. That's the way it is.Copy !req
169. Only knowledgeCopy !req
170. can turn life's unbearableness
into a weapon.Copy !req
171. Beauty...Copy !req
172. is now...Copy !req
173. my enemy-Copy !req
174. Life is b-b-bearable
only when I imagine...Copy !req
175. the G-Golden Pavilion...Copy !req
176. has been destroyed.Copy !req
177. The American b-b-bombers will come.Copy !req
178. Then...Copy !req
179. I'll be free.Copy !req
180. When I was 18,
my class was assigned air-raid duty.Copy !req
181. I wrote short stories and poemsCopy !req
182. but dreamed only of joining the warCopy !req
183. and dying for the emperor.Copy !req
184. I wanted to explode like a rocket,Copy !req
185. light the sky for an instant
and disappear.Copy !req
186. I took the pen name Yukio Mishima.Copy !req
187. What are you doing?Copy !req
188. Nothing.Copy !req
189. I thought you were at Lit. Club.Copy !req
190. You kidding?
That mediocre bunch?Copy !req
191. You should try to make
more friends, sweet.Copy !req
192. It's not good to be alone so much.Copy !req
193. “This is no precocious genius.Copy !req
194. He is not a writer.
And never will be.”Copy !req
195. What's this?Copy !req
196. That's a “respected” poet.Copy !req
197. He's talking about me.Copy !req
198. Don't show it to anyone else.Copy !req
199. They might agree.Copy !req
200. Cough.Copy !req
201. Enough.Copy !req
202. Do you sometimes cough blood?Copy !req
203. Yes, sir.Copy !req
204. How long have you had a fever?Copy !req
205. About six months, sir.Copy !req
206. “Unfit for military service.”Copy !req
207. “incipient tuberculosis.”Copy !req
208. Get dressed and go home.Copy !req
209. Next.Copy !req
210. I 'd always dreamed
of dying on the battlefield.Copy !req
211. So why did I lie?
Why did I exaggerate my illness?Copy !req
212. My words were lies.Copy !req
213. I was a coward.Copy !req
214. I never really wanted to die.Copy !req
215. Did you hear? The war is over!Copy !req
216. B-b-but the American bombers?
Where are the bombers?Copy !req
217. The Golden Pavilion...Copy !req
218. who'll set it free?Copy !req
219. Did you steal this from the temple?Copy !req
220. Be careful.Copy !req
221. You acolytes are
my girls' best customers.Copy !req
222. I wonder why they didn't bomb Kyoto.Copy !req
223. That was your first time?Copy !req
224. I thought so.Copy !req
225. Don't worry. You did fine.Copy !req
226. Are you always so serious?Copy !req
227. Didn't you enjoy it?Copy !req
228. I hope you remember my name.Copy !req
229. In a day or two I'm going to be famous.Copy !req
230. What's so funny?Copy !req
231. You're such a terrible liar!Copy !req
232. And you keep such a straight face!Copy !req
233. It's no lie!Copy !req
234. I'll make headlines.Copy !req
235. You're too much.Copy !req
236. Good morning.Copy !req
237. It's a nice day.Copy !req
238. Good morning, sensei.Copy !req
239. You've read the letters?Copy !req
240. You three must not follow our example.Copy !req
241. But we're ready to -Copy !req
242. The letters are very clear.Copy !req
243. No matter what happens,Copy !req
244. make sure the general
does not commit seppuku.Copy !req
245. This is our day...Copy !req
246. not his.Copy !req
247. Sensei, we've talked it over.Copy !req
248. We want to die with you.Copy !req
249. Why must we be left behind?Copy !req
250. This is my final day.Copy !req
251. I've said good-bye to my parents,
my girlfriend, everyone.Copy !req
252. You...Copy !req
253. must stay alive.Copy !req
254. You must defend our actions in court.Copy !req
255. We want to be with you to the end.Copy !req
256. You refuse to obey orders?Copy !req
257. Morita and I are going to do our duty.
You must do yours.Copy !req
258. Understand?Copy !req
259. Don't worry.Copy !req
260. We'll meet again.Copy !req
261. Everyone ready?Copy !req
262. Let's go.Copy !req
263. At the end of the war,
I felt left behind.Copy !req
264. I thought I was
the symbol of my times -Copy !req
265. a kamikaze for beauty.Copy !req
266. But I 'd only been
a boy who wrote bad poetry.Copy !req
267. I quit my job at the Ministry of Finance
to become a writer.Copy !req
268. I wrote Confessions of a Mask
in six months.Copy !req
269. Thirst for Love took five months.Copy !req
270. Forbidden Colors took nine,Copy !req
271. Sound of Waves four,Copy !req
272. Modern Noh Dramas three,Copy !req
273. The Temple
of the Golden Pavilion ten.Copy !req
274. The rehearsals look great.Copy !req
275. Easy for you to say.Copy !req
276. Why worry?
You're already the youngest writer...Copy !req
277. to publish his Collected Works.Copy !req
278. What good is it
if I'm not translated in the West?Copy !req
279. Sound of Waves was translated.Copy !req
280. One book.Copy !req
281. Four, five languages?Copy !req
282. Six.Copy !req
283. It's like a dream come true.Copy !req
284. But it feels like being confined
to a hospital bed.Copy !req
285. A luxurious hospital bed.Copy !req
286. Can't I just have the bed?Copy !req
287. Every night I return to my desk
precisely at midnight.Copy !req
288. I thoroughly analyze why
I am attracted to a particular theme.Copy !req
289. I drag everything
into my conscious mind.Copy !req
290. I boil it into abstraction.Copy !req
291. I am constantly calculating
until I sit down to write.Copy !req
292. Only then can
my unconscious dreams take over.Copy !req
293. Come, night! Come, Romeo!
Come, gentle night.Copy !req
294. Osamu?Copy !req
295. Who were you with last night?Copy !req
296. I don't remember.
Who'd you sleep with?Copy !req
297. What a thing to say to your mother.Copy !req
298. Besides...Copy !req
299. he was too drunk to walk.Copy !req
300. Nothing goes right for me anymore.Copy !req
301. You should see the loan on this place.Copy !req
302. I can't even buy lipstick.Copy !req
303. My back gets worse and worse.Copy !req
304. I could die and nobody would care.Copy !req
305. What's so funny?Copy !req
306. I love how you exaggerate
your misery,Copy !req
307. like some cheap movie poster.Copy !req
308. You even look the part -Copy !req
309. like the madam of a French brothel.Copy !req
310. How would you know?Copy !req
311. You've never left Tokyo.Copy !req
312. Besides, I'm not exaggerating.Copy !req
313. You're never here
when the loan sharks come.Copy !req
314. Do me a favor, please.Copy !req
315. Go see them.
I need six months more.Copy !req
316. It's getting so I can't sleep anymore.Copy !req
317. I'm busy.Copy !req
318. Doing what? Daydreaming?Copy !req
319. Like you.Copy !req
320. Theater?Copy !req
321. Wait.Copy !req
322. Got a role?Copy !req
323. What do you think?Copy !req
324. Would they look good in tights?Copy !req
325. I guess so.Copy !req
326. This nail polish sure chips easy.Copy !req
327. These damn legs.Copy !req
328. I pay too much attention to my face,Copy !req
329. but what about my body?Copy !req
330. If only I were more muscular...Copy !req
331. like a matador.Copy !req
332. Then my whole body could be my face.Copy !req
333. That's not very realistic.Copy !req
334. I'm going to take up bodybuilding.Copy !req
335. I mean it.Copy !req
336. Oh no, you don't.Copy !req
337. Then you'll have
more girls chasing you.Copy !req
338. Who were you with last night?Copy !req
339. Come on, tell me who.
Someone new?Copy !req
340. All right, muscle man.
You are a weakling!Copy !req
341. Cut it out.Copy !req
342. I'll be your mirror.Copy !req
343. This is your hair.Copy !req
344. This is your face.Copy !req
345. This is your breast.Copy !req
346. See? isn't this better
than a mirror?Copy !req
347. My life is in many ways
like that of an actor.Copy !req
348. I also wear a mask.
I play a role.Copy !req
349. When he looks in the mirror,Copy !req
350. the homosexual, like the actor,
sees what he fears most:Copy !req
351. the decay of the body.Copy !req
352. What's this?Copy !req
353. You're so flabby.Copy !req
354. Ah, it's you.Copy !req
355. What happened?
Suddenly you just...Copy !req
356. Don't worry. It's nothing.Copy !req
357. Please tell me,
or I'll never calm down.Copy !req
358. I'm calling from nearby.Copy !req
359. I'll see you in 15 minutes.Copy !req
360. Tell me.Copy !req
361. I must know.Copy !req
362. Both you and I have
a strong sense of aesthetics.Copy !req
363. When you look in the mirror,
you see beauty.Copy !req
364. I can't even look at myself.Copy !req
365. So don't make jokes like that again.Copy !req
366. As the ship approached Hawaii,
I felt as if I'd emerged from a caveCopy !req
367. and shook hands with the sun.Copy !req
368. I'd always suffered
under a monstrous sensitivity.Copy !req
369. What I lacked was health -
a healthy body, a physical presence.Copy !req
370. Words had separated me
from my body.Copy !req
371. The sun released me.Copy !req
372. Greece cured my self-hatred
and awoke a will to health.Copy !req
373. I saw that beauty and ethics
were one and the same.Copy !req
374. Creating a beautiful work of alt and
becoming beautiful oneself are identical.Copy !req
375. I obtained physical healthCopy !req
376. after becoming an adult.Copy !req
377. Such people are different
from those born healthy.Copy !req
378. We feel we have the right
to be insensitive to trivial concerns.Copy !req
379. The loss of self through sexCopy !req
380. gives us little satisfaction.Copy !req
381. Natsuo-chan!Copy !req
382. Osamu!Copy !req
383. Where have you been?Copy !req
384. I've become a bodybuilder.Copy !req
385. How about you? Still painting?Copy !req
386. Still at it.Copy !req
387. You mean Natsuo Yamagata?
Landscapes?Copy !req
388. I've seen some of them.Copy !req
389. At least you don't attempt
to paint human bodies.Copy !req
390. Forgive his bluntness.Copy !req
391. Takei and I
were just talking about art.Copy !req
392. And what did you decide?Copy !req
393. I got interested because of the way
Michelangelo and RodinCopy !req
394. treated the human body.Copy !req
395. The human body is the work of art.Copy !req
396. It doesn't need artists.Copy !req
397. Okay, let's say you're right.Copy !req
398. What good does
your sweating and grunting do?Copy !req
399. Even the most beautiful body
is soon destroyed by age.Copy !req
400. Where is beauty then?Copy !req
401. Only art makes human beauty endure.Copy !req
402. You must devise
an artist's scheme to preserve it.Copy !req
403. You must commit suicide
at the height of your beauty.Copy !req
404. What have you been doing?
You promised we'd go to the theater.Copy !req
405. You need money again?Copy !req
406. No, that's not it.Copy !req
407. Don't you notice anything new?Copy !req
408. Just this awful shirt.Copy !req
409. You call my taste gaudy.
Looks like blood.Copy !req
410. No, it's not that.Copy !req
411. I've put two inches on my chest.Copy !req
412. Bodybuilding.Copy !req
413. You? Why?Copy !req
414. Somebody even saidCopy !req
415. my ass looked like that
of a foreign sailor.Copy !req
416. Here, feel my chest.Copy !req
417. I can hardly pinch it.Copy !req
418. Lady! Get us some lunch!Copy !req
419. We only serve snacks.Copy !req
420. Then go get some.Copy !req
421. Until you pay back your loan,
this dump belongs to my boss.Copy !req
422. Now move your ass.Copy !req
423. The check!Copy !req
424. Come in.Copy !req
425. I hope you accept my apology.
I'm sorry about yesterday.Copy !req
426. I fired that punk immediately.Copy !req
427. I've put up with your mother
long enough.Copy !req
428. She's very difficult.Copy !req
429. I'll soon take possession of her place.Copy !req
430. In such cases,Copy !req
431. people are often driven to suicide.Copy !req
432. What do you mean?Copy !req
433. You're like me.Copy !req
434. My beautiful shadow.Copy !req
435. You're vain and bored.Copy !req
436. Full of yourself.Copy !req
437. You like to play childish games.Copy !req
438. You're an actor, aren't you?Copy !req
439. I feel that...Copy !req
440. a certain woman
wants a certain something.Copy !req
441. Don't pretend you love me.Copy !req
442. I've had too much of that.Copy !req
443. Mm, as for me,
I don't love women much.Copy !req
444. They make me feelCopy !req
445. emptied out.Copy !req
446. All the better.Copy !req
447. What do you want?Copy !req
448. This is your mother's loan.
It comes to 11/2 million yen.Copy !req
449. Sign this.Copy !req
450. If you do,Copy !req
451. I'll cancel the loan.Copy !req
452. “I hereby certify that my life and bodyCopy !req
453. belong to Kiyomi Akita.”Copy !req
454. I want to buy you.Copy !req
455. It's just a little cut.Copy !req
456. Why?Copy !req
457. Your skin is so beautiful...Copy !req
458. I just had to out it.Copy !req
459. It felt pleasant.Copy !req
460. A thought just occurred to me.Copy !req
461. “This is the woman
I've been looking for.Copy !req
462. I've finally found her.”Copy !req
463. I don't need a mirror anymore.Copy !req
464. I feel clearly that I exist.Copy !req
465. In that case...Copy !req
466. will you stay by me to the end?Copy !req
467. Will you die with me?Copy !req
468. I'd watch you writhe in a pool of blood...Copy !req
469. until you stopped moving.Copy !req
470. Then I'd drink poison.Copy !req
471. Fine with me, but...Copy !req
472. no matter what happens,
don't kiss me...Copy !req
473. until I'm good and dead.Copy !req
474. A writer is a voyeur par excellence.Copy !req
475. I came to detest this position.Copy !req
476. I sought to be not only the seer
but also the seen.Copy !req
477. Men wear masksCopy !req
478. to make themselves beautiful.Copy !req
479. But unlike a woman's,Copy !req
480. a man's determination
to become beautifulCopy !req
481. is always a desire for death.Copy !req
482. Have you been to the gym?Copy !req
483. I don't need to go.Copy !req
484. You are in good shape.Copy !req
485. Look, those ladies are jealous.Copy !req
486. They don't think we're mother and son.Copy !req
487. Let 'em think what they want.Copy !req
488. Two, please.Copy !req
489. Two hundred yen, please.Copy !req
490. Thank you.Copy !req
491. It's such a relief not to worry
about money anymore.Copy !req
492. I'm finally able to sleep again.Copy !req
493. Thanks to Akita-san. And to you.Copy !req
494. You're not having trouble
with her, are you?Copy !req
495. Not at all.Copy !req
496. In fact, I decided
to go all the way with her.Copy !req
497. Do you love her?Copy !req
498. Of course not.Copy !req
499. Isn't that a little extreme?Copy !req
500. On the other hand,
we've got to be nice to her.Copy !req
501. But don't go too far.
Just find a way to cancel the loan.Copy !req
502. Don't worry about money.Copy !req
503. I got a good part.Copy !req
504. You did?Copy !req
505. Which role?Copy !req
506. It's a surprise.Copy !req
507. You've got the body of a matador.Copy !req
508. I can't even go to the gym.Copy !req
509. Those guys at the theater
are even worse.Copy !req
510. They're still having
the same boring discussions...Copy !req
511. about the “wounds of art.”Copy !req
512. I'd like to show them...Copy !req
513. your wounds.Copy !req
514. They don't even knowCopy !req
515. that art is a shadow...Copy !req
516. that stage Mood...Copy !req
517. is not enough.Copy !req
518. When duty and sympathyCopy !req
519. Are on the scalesCopy !req
520. A man always findsCopy !req
521. Duty heavierCopy !req
522. O merciful KannonCopy !req
523. My childhood friendCopy !req
524. You can seeCopy !req
525. Right into my heartCopy !req
526. The lion and the peonyCopy !req
527. Roar on my backCopy !req
528. There it is.Copy !req
529. We're a little early.Copy !req
530. Swing around the loop.Copy !req
531. What if something goes wrong?Copy !req
532. Just stick to the plan.Copy !req
533. Has anything changed?Copy !req
534. You're still going
through with it? Why?Copy !req
535. Don't you understand?Copy !req
536. The emperor's face is not pleased.Copy !req
537. Japan is losing her soul.Copy !req
538. But Why you?Copy !req
539. I was lucky enough to be chosen.Copy !req
540. Why did you pull out
of the tournament?Copy !req
541. I lost interest.Copy !req
542. Because you win so easily?Copy !req
543. I lost interest
in wooden swords, sensei.Copy !req
544. They have no real power.Copy !req
545. You're old enough
for a sword of steel?Copy !req
546. Yes, sensei.Copy !req
547. How about your team
and your school?Copy !req
548. They can't win without you.Copy !req
549. Report to your dorm, Isao.Copy !req
550. Contemplate the danger of a man
who thinks only of himself.Copy !req
551. Excuse me, Lieutenant Hori.Copy !req
552. I heard about your kendo exercises.Copy !req
553. We expect great things from you.Copy !req
554. You wrote this?Copy !req
555. How many of you?Copy !req
556. Twenty.Copy !req
557. How will you do this?Copy !req
558. In a single stroke.Copy !req
559. We'll assassinate
the leaders of capitalism.Copy !req
560. Burn the Bank of Japan.Copy !req
561. At dawn, law will restore power
to the emperor.Copy !req
562. What will happen to your group?Copy !req
563. At sunrise, on a cliff,
paying reverence to the sun,Copy !req
564. looking down on the sea,
we'll commit seppuku.Copy !req
565. We'd never ask anyone
to join us in death.Copy !req
566. Who would you kill?Copy !req
567. If we could kill ten,Copy !req
568. Marquis Nagasaki,
Baron Shinkawa -Copy !req
569. If only five?Copy !req
570. Premier Saito -Copy !req
571. Only one?Copy !req
572. Kurahara.Copy !req
573. Japan will be purified.Copy !req
574. What do you want from me?Copy !req
575. An airplane to drop leaflets.Copy !req
576. Explosives to knock out
the power station.Copy !req
577. You have firearms?Copy !req
578. We'll only use swords.Copy !req
579. Our best weapon is purity.Copy !req
580. And you schoolboys can use swords?Copy !req
581. Words are a deceit.Copy !req
582. But action is never deceitful.Copy !req
583. “The harmony of pen and sword.”Copy !req
584. This samurai motto
used to be a way of life.Copy !req
585. Now it's forgotten.Copy !req
586. Can art and action still be united?Copy !req
587. Today this harmony can only occur
in a brief flash, a single moment.Copy !req
588. The average age for men
in the Bronze Age was 18,Copy !req
589. in the Roman era, 22.Copy !req
590. Heaven must have been
beautiful then.Copy !req
591. Today it must look dreadful.Copy !req
592. When a man reaches 40,
he has no chance to die beautifully.Copy !req
593. No matter how he tries,
he will die of decay.Copy !req
594. He must compel himself to live.Copy !req
595. What's wrong?Copy !req
596. Call off your plan.Copy !req
597. Someone found out?Copy !req
598. No, but they will.Copy !req
599. I'm being transferred to Manchuria.Copy !req
600. Without me, it's too dangerous.Copy !req
601. Can you get the airplane?Copy !req
602. It won't work. Call it off.Copy !req
603. Why?Copy !req
604. You must not throw away your lives.Copy !req
605. “Don't fear the death of the body,
only the spirit.”Copy !req
606. Your intentions are admirable, but...Copy !req
607. Please swear you'll call it off.Copy !req
608. And destroy any reference to me.Copy !req
609. Do you swear?Copy !req
610. There'll be no airplane,
no explosives.Copy !req
611. The army has deserted us.Copy !req
612. The capitalists have bought them out.Copy !req
613. This meeting is useless.Copy !req
614. Do you understand?Copy !req
615. Go home.
Go back to your books.Copy !req
616. This is my final command.Copy !req
617. I want to be alone now. Go.Copy !req
618. What's wrong?Copy !req
619. Didn't you hear me? Go home.Copy !req
620. We have no plan.Copy !req
621. No hope. Nothing.Copy !req
622. We understand.Copy !req
623. Are you still willing to pay the price...Copy !req
624. for something
which may accomplish nothing?Copy !req
625. Yes!Copy !req
626. We vow to go forth to deathCopy !req
627. to purge our nation of capitalist evils.Copy !req
628. We hereby vow to forgeCopy !req
629. eternal friendship among ourselves.Copy !req
630. We hereby vow
to restore His Imperial Majesty.Copy !req
631. “We hereby vow to be
the foundation of imperial Japan.”Copy !req
632. Now let's sign with our blood.Copy !req
633. This paper could be lost in the wind,Copy !req
634. but these vows
will be eternal in our hearts.Copy !req
635. It doesn't hurt.Copy !req
636. After the signatures,Copy !req
637. we'll drink a blood toast
to our new Shield Society.Copy !req
638. No one here has VD, I hope.Copy !req
639. You can't use the National Theater
for a private political party.Copy !req
640. This is a scandal.Copy !req
641. What's all this nonsense
about a private army?Copy !req
642. Up there I create
action in the sunshine.Copy !req
643. Here I create art in the dark.Copy !req
644. Isn't it perfect?Copy !req
645. Who'd have thought
you could still combine them?Copy !req
646. Byron did it. He had 300 men.Copy !req
647. Are you serious?Copy !req
648. The media can make you look
so ridiculous.Copy !req
649. You're our best writer.Copy !req
650. Haven't I always looked ridiculous?Copy !req
651. I walk on stage determined
to make the audience cry.Copy !req
652. Instead, they burst out laughing.Copy !req
653. Some people have called usCopy !req
654. toy soldiers.Copy !req
655. But our goalCopy !req
656. is to restore the noble traditionCopy !req
657. of the way of the samurai.Copy !req
658. I have always supported
the tradition of elegant beautyCopy !req
659. in Japanese literature.Copy !req
660. I cannot stop strivingCopy !req
661. to unite these two great traditions.Copy !req
662. Now I would like to addressCopy !req
663. our foreign guests in English.Copy !req
664. I hope my poor English
is not too hardCopy !req
665. on your 981$.Copy !req
666. A month after the radical Left
occupied Tokyo University,Copy !req
667. they challenged me to speak.Copy !req
668. For a moment I felt I was entering
the realm where art and action converge.Copy !req
669. For a moment I was alive.Copy !req
670. You're not only wrong,Copy !req
671. you're not even logical!Copy !req
672. Having got this far
out of sheer pride...Copy !req
673. I'm not going
to become logical now.Copy !req
674. That doesn't mean you've defeated me
with your lack of logic.Copy !req
675. I'd gladly join hands with youCopy !req
676. if you'd only call the emperor
by his rightful name.Copy !req
677. We all want to improve Japan.Copy !req
678. Are we so far apart?Copy !req
679. We're playing a serious game.Copy !req
680. We've both played the same cards.Copy !req
681. You're speaking nonsense!Copy !req
682. Think about it.Copy !req
683. But I have the joker.Copy !req
684. I have the emperor.Copy !req
685. Sitting alone at my desk at midnight,Copy !req
686. as I had every night for 20 years,Copy !req
687. I felt empty.Copy !req
688. Then again came the words.Copy !req
689. Effortlessly, urgently.Copy !req
690. Again the rehearsal began.Copy !req
691. We strike Friday night.Copy !req
692. This date can change anytime,
so always be ready.Copy !req
693. Are there any objections?Copy !req
694. Is it inconvenient for anyone?Copy !req
695. If we're going to die,
how can it be inconvenient?Copy !req
696. Okay, Friday night.Copy !req
697. Where are the maps
to Kurahara's house?Copy !req
698. Is that you?Copy !req
699. Sit down.Copy !req
700. Are you hungry?Copy !req
701. No.Copy !req
702. - I can have something brought.
- That's okay.Copy !req
703. - Did your group plan anything else?
- No.Copy !req
704. You're third degree in kendo, I hear.Copy !req
705. Too bad you got involved
in this business.Copy !req
706. Otherwise we might be having
a pleasant match.Copy !req
707. Are they having a match now?Copy !req
708. You're still too young and pure.Copy !req
709. You will learn
to tone down your feelings.Copy !req
710. If purity is toned down,
it's no longer purity.Copy !req
711. Total purity is not possible
in this world.Copy !req
712. Yes, 'Ms...Copy !req
713. if you turn your life into a line of poetry
written with a splash of blood.Copy !req
714. Calm down.Copy !req
715. Dying isn't everything, you know.Copy !req
716. I admire your loyalty,
but the emperor also treasures our lives.Copy !req
717. I'm not attacking your beliefs.Copy !req
718. I'm just saying...Copy !req
719. take it easy.Copy !req
720. You don't think I'm serious.Copy !req
721. If my ideas aren't dangerous,
let me do my duty.Copy !req
722. If not, torture me like the others.Copy !req
723. Ah, such a debater.Copy !req
724. Torture me.Copy !req
725. There's no need to torture you.Copy !req
726. We torture those who won't talk.Copy !req
727. You want to talk.Copy !req
728. Kurahara!Copy !req
729. Who are you?Copy !req
730. The punishment you deserve!Copy !req
731. Cut!Copy !req
732. Is something wrong?Copy !req
733. How does it look?Copy !req
734. Fine.Copy !req
735. It's hard enough
directing and acting.Copy !req
736. It looks great. Honest.Copy !req
737. Very well.Copy !req
738. We need more shadow.Copy !req
739. This premieres in Paris -
you know how the French love shadows.Copy !req
740. Action!Copy !req
741. Why did you make your film
without dialogue?Copy !req
742. That's a surprise.Copy !req
743. You always say I use too much dialogue.
I was doing you a favor.Copy !req
744. Does your film
have any political message?Copy !req
745. No, none at all.Copy !req
746. Your favorite writer?Copy !req
747. - Thomas Mann.
- Your most unique habit?Copy !req
748. Laughing for no reason.Copy !req
749. Who would you like to be?Copy !req
750. Elvis Presley.Copy !req
751. Your favorite food?Copy !req
752. Does this mean
you'll stop writing novels?Copy !req
753. I can't help you out on that.Copy !req
754. I couldn't survive if I didn't continueCopy !req
755. writing one more line,
one more line, one more line...Copy !req
756. one more line.Copy !req
757. And one more line.Copy !req
758. Just follow the plan.Copy !req
759. But what if we can't?Copy !req
760. Watch me.Copy !req
761. If something goes wrong,
I'll give you a signal.Copy !req
762. Now is the time to be calm.Copy !req
763. Let's go.Copy !req
764. We're here to see General Mashita.Copy !req
765. You have an...?Copy !req
766. 11:00 a.m.Copy !req
767. Ah, Mishima-sensei!Copy !req
768. Just a moment.Copy !req
769. Go ahead.Copy !req
770. Running in the early mist
with the members of the Shield Society,Copy !req
771. I felt something emerging
as slowly as my sweat:Copy !req
772. the ultimate verification of my existence.Copy !req
773. Our members were allowed to train
in the facilities of the regular army.Copy !req
774. I flew in a combat fighter.Copy !req
775. These privileges were granted usCopy !req
776. because of the symbolic
significance of our society.Copy !req
777. Even in its present
weakened condition,Copy !req
778. the army represented
the ancient code of the samurai.Copy !req
779. It was here,
on the stage of Japanese tradition,Copy !req
780. that I would conduct my action.Copy !req
781. Look at that!Copy !req
782. At least he can eat
faster than this old man.Copy !req
783. All right: Eat!Copy !req
784. Hup-two-three-four.Copy !req
785. Can't see Fuji at all.Copy !req
786. Morita, what do you think?Copy !req
787. Their hearts are pure.Copy !req
788. Yes. Are they “strong” enough?Copy !req
789. Having come to my solution,Copy !req
790. I never wavered.Copy !req
791. Who knows what others
will make of this?Copy !req
792. There would be no more rehearsals.Copy !req
793. General Mashita is waiting for you.Copy !req
794. General, Mishima-sensei is here.Copy !req
795. Yes, come right in.Copy !req
796. General, good to see you again.Copy !req
797. You too.Copy !req
798. May I invite some members
of the Shield Society to join us?Copy !req
799. Certainly.Copy !req
800. You don't mind?Copy !req
801. Come in.Copy !req
802. Please sit down.Copy !req
803. We've just finished a maneuver.Copy !req
804. These four distinguished themselves.Copy !req
805. I see.Copy !req
806. I wanted themCopy !req
807. to have the honor of meeting you.Copy !req
808. That's why we're in uniform.Copy !req
809. Please sit down.Copy !req
810. Your new uniformsCopy !req
811. are very handsome.Copy !req
812. Really splendid.Copy !req
813. Who designed them? You?Copy !req
814. Yes - with some help
from De Gaulle's tailor.Copy !req
815. Is that real?Copy !req
816. Yes.Copy !req
817. Is it all right
to carry it around like that?Copy !req
818. I have a permit.Copy !req
819. It's a certified antique,
made in 1620 by Seki-no-Magoroku.Copy !req
820. Would you like to see it?
- By all means.Copy !req
821. Magnificent.Copy !req
822. As I expected,
it has the wave pattern.Copy !req
823. You must be an expert.Copy !req
824. Wonderful.Copy !req
825. It's hard to see through the oil.Copy !req
826. Polishing cloth.Copy !req
827. There's a cloth over here.Copy !req
828. A true museum piece.Copy !req
829. The cloth.Copy !req
830. Stop joking around!Copy !req
831. Be quiet and you won't be injured.Copy !req
832. Barricade the doors. Quick!Copy !req
833. Put your hachimaki on.Copy !req
834. Remove the gag.Copy !req
835. If this is a demonstrationCopy !req
836. of commando tactics,
it's gone far enough.Copy !req
837. Tell the garrison
to assemble out frontCopy !req
838. to hear a speech.Copy !req
839. Are you serious?Copy !req
840. Are you crazy?Copy !req
841. If you do, we will surrender
our weapons after the speech.Copy !req
842. Stop playacting.Copy !req
843. I can't approve a speech
until I've read it.Copy !req
844. If you try to stop us,
I will kill you and commit seppuku.Copy !req
845. This is madness.Copy !req
846. What will you gain?Copy !req
847. Order your officers to obey.Copy !req
848. These are our demands.Copy !req
849. “One: The men of the 32nd garrisonCopy !req
850. will be assembledCopy !req
851. at 11:30 a.m.Copy !req
852. Commander Mishima
will address the garrison.”Copy !req
853. Out!Copy !req
854. Get out!Copy !req
855. Release the general!Copy !req
856. Who's in charge?Copy !req
857. Who's in command?Copy !req
858. I am the colonel.
Let me see the general.Copy !req
859. Listen to our demands.Copy !req
860. I guarantee the general's safety.Copy !req
861. Let's talk this over.Copy !req
862. There's nothing to talk about!Copy !req
863. The men of the 32nd garrison
will be assembledCopy !req
864. in front of headquarters
at 11:30 a.m.Copy !req
865. Commander Mishima
will address the garrison.Copy !req
866. The garrisonCopy !req
867. will attend the speech in silence.Copy !req
868. We agree.Copy !req
869. But it's already past 11:30.Copy !req
870. When shall they assemble?Copy !req
871. Immediately!Copy !req
872. Assemble the garrison.Copy !req
873. Come out here!Copy !req
874. Come down!Copy !req
875. The police are everywhere.Copy !req
876. Our little drama has attracted
quite an audience.Copy !req
877. Time for the last act.Copy !req
878. Dear soldiers!Copy !req
879. It's a terrible affair to have to speakCopy !req
880. to army menCopy !req
881. in circumstances like these.Copy !req
882. I thought that the army
was the last hope of Japan,Copy !req
883. the last stronghold
of the Japanese soul.Copy !req
884. But the Japanese people todayCopy !req
885. think only of money.Copy !req
886. Where is our national spirit?Copy !req
887. We thought the armyCopy !req
888. was the soul of national honor!Copy !req
889. The nation has no spiritual foundation.Copy !req
890. What will you do when you are
just a big soulless arsenal?Copy !req
891. The politicians care nothing for Japan.Copy !req
892. They are greedy for power.Copy !req
893. The army must be the soul of Japan!Copy !req
894. Listen! Listen!Copy !req
895. Never in physical actionCopy !req
896. had I discovered
the chilling satisfaction of words.Copy !req
897. Never in words had I experiencedCopy !req
898. the hot darkness of action.Copy !req
899. Somewhere there must be
a higher principleCopy !req
900. which reconciles art and action.Copy !req
901. That principle, it occurred to me,
was death.Copy !req
902. The vast upper atmosphere,
where there is no oxygen,Copy !req
903. is surrounded with death.Copy !req
904. To survive in this atmosphere,
man, like an actor, must wear a mask.Copy !req
905. Flying at 45,000 feet,Copy !req
906. the silver phallus of the fuselage
floated in sunlight.Copy !req
907. My mind was at ease,Copy !req
908. my thought process lively.Copy !req
909. No movement, no sound,Copy !req
910. no memories.Copy !req
911. The closed cockpitCopy !req
912. and outer spaceCopy !req
913. were like the spirit
and body of the same being.Copy !req
914. Here I saw the outcomeCopy !req
915. of my final action.Copy !req
916. In this stillness
was a beauty beyond words.Copy !req
917. No more body or spirit,Copy !req
918. pen or sword,Copy !req
919. male or female.Copy !req
920. Then I saw a giant circle
coiled around the earth,Copy !req
921. a ring that resolved all contradictions,
a ring vaster than death,Copy !req
922. more fragrant than any scent
I have ever known.Copy !req
923. Here was the moment
I had always been seeking.Copy !req
924. Are you men?Copy !req
925. Are you bushi?Copy !req
926. Are you bushi?Copy !req
927. I appeal to you!Copy !req
928. Listen to me!Copy !req
929. Will no one join with me?Copy !req
930. No one?Copy !req
931. I see you will not rise up.
You will do nothing.Copy !req
932. I have lost my dream for you.Copy !req
933. I will now salute the emperor.Copy !req
934. Long live the emperor!Copy !req
935. Long live the emperor!Copy !req
936. Long live the emperor!Copy !req
937. I don't even think they heard me.Copy !req
938. Mishima-san, stop!Copy !req
939. There's no reason to do it!Copy !req
940. I am bound to do this, General.Copy !req
941. You must not take
responsibility for this.Copy !req
942. Stop! Please stop!Copy !req
943. “The instant the blade tore open his flesh,
the bright disk of the sunCopy !req
944. soared up behind his eyelids
and exploded,Copy !req
945. lighting the sky for an instant.”Copy !req