''Rokumeikan'' is a four-act

costume drama Costume is the distinctive style of clothing, dress and/or cosmetics, makeup of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, occupation, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch—in short, culture. The term also was traditionally used ...

by the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese writer

Yukio Mishima Kimitake Hiraoka ( , ''Hiraoka Kimitake''; 14 January 192525 November 1970), known by his pen name Yukio Mishima ( , ''Mishima Yukio''), was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Ultranationalism (Japan), ultranationalis ...

. It was commissioned by the Bungakuza group for its 20th anniversary, and its first run was from 27 November to 9 December 1956 at the Daiichi Seimei Hall, with

Haruko Sugimura was a Japanese Theatre, stage and film actor, actress, best known for her appearances in the films of Yasujirō Ozu and Mikio Naruse from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. Biography Sugimura was born in Nishi-ku, Hiroshima, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima. ...

playing Asako and

Nobuo Nakamura was a Japanese stage and film actor, who appeared in many films by Akira Kurosawa, Yasujirō Ozu and Mikio Naruse. Biography A graduate from Tokyo Kaisei Junior High School, Nakamura studied at the Kawabata School of Painting. After the rejecti ...

playing Kageyama. The text was published in the December 1956 issue of ''Bungakukai''. The play was enormously successful, and toured the country. By many accounts, it was the most successful play by Mishima and has been revived on several occasions. An English translation by Hiroaki Sato was published in 2002. The play was adapted into different media. A film version, directed by

Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary '' Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won t ...

, appeared in 1986, and a TV version in 2008. An opera based on the play by Shin’ichirō Ikebe was premiered by the

New National Theatre Tokyo The is Japan's first and foremost national centre for the performing arts, including opera, ballet, contemporary dance and drama. It is located in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. Since 1997 more than 650 productions were staged. There are about 300 p ...

in 2010.

Plot introduction

On 3 November 1886, the Emperor's birthday, a ball is to be held at the

Rokumeikan The was a large two-story building in Tokyo, completed in 1883, which became a controversial symbol of Westernisation in the Meiji period. Commissioned for the housing of foreign guests by the Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru, it was designed by ...

, or Deer Cry Hall, in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. The guests include many foreign dignitaries. However, anti-government extremists are planning to crash the party.

Characters

*Count Kageyama Hisatoshi, a ruthless figure in the government *Countess Asako, his wife *Marchioness Daitokuji Sueko, a friend of Asako **her daughter Akiko, who is in love with Hisao *Kiyohara Einosuke, leader of the dissident Liberals **his hostile son Hisao *Tobita Tenkotsu, an assassin *Kusano, a maid of the Kageyamas *General Miyamura and his wife Noriko *Baron Sakazaki and his wife Sadako *waiters and servants *numerous guests

References

*Yukio Mishima. ''My Friend Hitler, and other plays.'' Translated by Hiroaki Sato. Columbia University Press, 2002. {{Yukio Mishima 1956 plays Plays by Yukio Mishima Fiction set in 1886 Plays adapted into operas