Five immersive recordings from Japan’s most celebrated and controversial author, plus exclusive bonus content about his life and work

Listen now to a remarkable collection from Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, and film director Yukio Mishima. Considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century, his work blends modern and traditional aesthetics. With a focus on sexuality, death, and political change, his work broke cultural boundaries. Active as a nationalist, Mishima founded his own right-wing militia. He is also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état. This collection is a brilliant offering of this iconic writer’s work, and features exclusive content exploring Mishima’s life and dramatic death.

In Yukio Mishima’s modern Noh play The Damask Drum, an old man is tormented by his love for his beautiful neighbour, who does not love him back. Mishima uses the ghostly confrontations of the classical Noh play to look at modern Japan. This full-cast production stars Nigel Stock and Meg Davies.

In The Peacocks a young boy named Akio becomes fascinated by the peacocks kept in his wealthy uncle's garden. As he spends more time observing these majestic birds, he becomes increasingly captivated by their beauty and grace, which starkly contrasts with the rigid and oppressive environment of his family life. Read by John Shrapnel.

The Swaddling Clothes, narrated by Elizabeth Bell, is a story that explores the complex emotional landscape of a young wife and mother named Toshiko, who is haunted by the sight of a newborn baby wrapped in newspaper.

In The Pearl, the loss of one of Mrs. Sasaki's pearls during her 43rd birthday party eventually causes two of her friends to fall out and another two to make up. The story explores themes of honour, deception, and the chaos of human interaction. Read by John Moffatt.

In Thermos Flasks,a man passing through San Francisco after a long business trip encounters a former geisha lover, and they spend the night together. On his return to Japan, he realises by indirect means that he is not the only one who has been unfaithful… Read by Geoffrey Beevers.

On November 25th, 1970, on the day he completed his last novel, Mishima committed seppuku (ritual suicide) at the age of 45. This collection contains two exclusive docu-dramas reflecting on the life, work and death of this Japanese icon. The docu-drama Death at Midday explores his place in Japanese literature and the reasons for his savage death, with Garry Cooper as Yukio Mishima and John Church as Commentator.

Witness History: The Death of Yukio Mishima hears from Henry Scott Stokes, a friend and biographer of the great writer who was living in Japan at the time. He remembers the day of Mishima's death, and his long-standing interest in ritual suicide.

Unique and compelling, this fascinating collection invites listeners to immerse themselves in the rich culture and literature of 20th-century Japan.

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