Ba Ra Kei: Ordeal by Roses

Ba-ra-kei is the fierce and lyrical testament to the legendary Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, who shocked the world when he committed ritual suicide in 1970. The year marked Japan's new economic confidence, and Mishima accused the country of being 'drunk with prosperity.' Many in Japan regarded the suicide as a sensational act. However, with the publication of Mishima's final cycle of novels - conceived eight years prior to his death-it was revealed that his suicide was a carefully considered act, a gesture of historical implication in accord with the morbid and esoteric aesthetic that pervades his writing.