A man obsessed with a “beautiful death” interpreting the main character of the Sea of Fertility, Honda Shigekuni, based on Mishima Yukio’s aesthetic sense

Abstract

This thesis reexamines the role of Honda Shigekuni, the only recurring character in Mishima Yukio’s The Sea of Fertility tetralogy to appear in all four novels, through the lens of Mishima’s aesthetic of a beautiful death. Traditionally regarded as a passive observer or narrator, Honda is reinterpreted here as an active figure driven by a persistent desire to witness the perfection of beauty through death. The study begins by investigating the literary influence Izumi Kyōka had on Mishima, focusing on shared themes such as the perfection of beauty through death and the erotic nature of pain and blood. Building on this aesthetic framework, this thesis critiques prior studies and interpretations of Honda’s role as a savior and instead analyzes his actions as if motivated by an eroticized fascination with beauty and destruction. By the final volume of the series, Honda’s obsessive desire leads to his active intervention in the life of the reincarnated youth, Tōru, whom he adopts and attempts to educate, while also revealing his deep-seated envy and masochistic longings. Ultimately, Honda emerges not only as a witness but also as an active participant in Mishima’s aesthetic ideology. The thesis concludes by considering the real-world implications of Mishima’s suicide on the day of the tetralogy’s completion, proposing that the author himself enacted the ultimate beautiful death to complete the fictional world he had created.