Sea of Fertility (Tetralogy)

These four interconnected historical four novels are the final masterpiece of Yukio Mishima, the greatest Japanese novelist of the 20th century. Beginning in 1913 and ending in 1974, they follow the quest of Shigekuni Honda as he tries to save three successive reincarnations of his childhood friend, Kiyoaki Matsugae, a young aristocrat, each of whom is fated to die at the age of twenty:These four interconnected historical four novels are the final masterpiece of Yukio Mishima, the greatest Japanese novelist of the 20th century. Beginning in 1913 and ending in 1974, they follow the quest of Shigekuni Honda as he tries to save three successive reincarnations of his childhood friend, Kiyoaki Matsugae, a young aristocrat, each of whom is fated to die at the age of twenty:

 

Isao Iinuma, an extreme Japanese nationalist

Ying Chan, an indolent Thai princess

Tōru Yasunaga, a sociopathic orphan adopted by Honda

 

 

In each novel, Mishima explores the social, cultural and political tensions that result from the impact of western influences on traditional aspects of Japanese life. Drawing on Buddhist ideas of reincarnation, the work as a whole is also a profound meditation on love and loss, identity and place in a constantly changing universe.dentity and place in a constantly changing universe.