Yukio Mishima is the most famous and widely read Japanese writer in the world, the author of such bestsellers as “The Golden Temple”, “Confession of a Mask”, “The Philosophical Diary of a Murderous Maniac Who Lived in the Middle Ages” and others. He is also known as a director, actor, conductor, photographer, athlete, radical monarchist and supporter of samurai traditions. The stories and play included in this collection are united by the paradoxical nature of ideas, metaphors and allusions, and the jewelry virtuosity of the style.