In this world, there is a kind of desire that feels like a piercing pain. A Japanese teenager is overwhelmed by longing for his male classmate. He imagines his body being pierced by arrows, like the body of Saint Sebastian in the painting that possesses him. Again and again, every night in his private fantasies, the objects of his desire are tortured, killed, and mutilated. Yet in the rigid world of imperial wartime Japan, there is no place for such transgressive wishes. He must wear a false mask and hide his true nature at all costs.

“A fabulous and sharp work of beauty.” - The Times Literary Supplement

“Mishima is clear amidst emotional confusion, witty amidst despair.” - Christopher Isherwood

“Never has a ‘confession’ been freer of self-pity.” - Sunday Times.