After the Banquet (宴のあと, Utage no Ato) was published by Shinchosha in 1960. The novel was based closely on the real marriage of former Foreign Minister Arita Hachiro and Hanaogi, the owner of a famous Tokyo restaurant, and their involvement in the 1959 Tokyo gubernatorial election. Arita sued Mishima for invasion of privacy — the first such case in Japanese legal history — and won.
Kazu, the proprietor of the Setsugoan restaurant (a refined establishment catering to politicians), marries Noguchi, a retired diplomat and elder statesman of the opposition party. When Noguchi is persuaded to run for governor of Tokyo, Kazu pours her fortune and energy into the campaign — selling property, mortgaging the restaurant, mobilizing her network of political connections.
The novel anatomizes the relationship between money and politics in postwar Japan, but its emotional core is the marriage itself: Kazu’s vitality and Noguchi’s dignity are incompatible. Her love expresses itself through action (spending, organizing, fighting); his through restraint and principle. The campaign destroys both the marriage and Kazu’s financial independence.
Collecting After the Banquet
First edition (Shinchosha, Tokyo, 1960): Japanese text.
First English edition (Knopf, New York, 1963): Translated by Donald Keene.
Market values:
- Knopf first English edition, fine in jacket: $60–$150
- Japanese first edition: $100–$300
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation.
Politics and Privacy
After the Banquet (宴のあと, 1960) is a political novel based on a real Tokyo gubernatorial election and the marriage of a retired diplomat to a restaurant owner. The novel follows Kazu, a vivacious, wealthy restaurant proprietress who marries the stiff, principled former ambassador Noguchi and throws her energy and money into his political campaign. When the real-life diplomat Hachirō Arita sued Mishima for invasion of privacy, the resulting case became Japan’s first major privacy lawsuit. The novel itself is one of Mishima’s most accessible — a keen, sardonic portrait of money, ambition, and the collision of private and public life.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened with the privacy lawsuit? Arita won — the Tokyo District Court ruled that the novel invaded his privacy, establishing an important legal precedent in Japan. Mishima was ordered to pay damages. The case is still studied in Japanese law schools.