My Friend Hitler
Mishima's brilliant plays are unknown outside Japan, something  this scholarly yet fluid English-language anthology attempts to  change. The five later plays and three dramatic essays include  scholarly introductions and footnotes by Sato to help readers  decipher the content. Mishima's complex and well-plotted plays  are drawn from various sources, but all show his idealism and  loyalty to the old Japan, and the common theme of premeditated  ritual in four of the five pieces seems to foretell the author's  1970 public suicide. "The Rokumenkan" shows Japan's  schizophrenic split between Westernization and nationalism. In  "The Decline and Fall of Suzaku," Mishima laments Japan's defeat  in World War II. "The Leper King" is based upon the Cambodian  legend of Jayavarman VII. "The Wonder Tale: Kabuki" tells the  heroics of 12th-century Japanese warrior, Tametomo. Finally, the  title piece reveals Mishima's fascination with Hitler's  political "genius." In addition, the dramatic essays and a  lecture given at the National Theatre demonstrate his theatrical  knowledge and passion for kabuki. Recommended for academic and  large public libraries.Ming-ming Shen Kuo, Ball State Univ.,  Muncie, INCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.