Mishima: A Vision of the Void

Mishima: A Vision of the Void

Yukio Mishima 1963, from 'Ba-Ra-Kei' [Ordeal by Roses]

Eikoh Hosoe's photographs may be used for many book covers in his native Japan, but so far this is the only one I've come across in the U.S.

Hosoe and the writer Yukio Mishima were friends and collaborators, at least where art was concerned. I can't swear to it, but I rather doubt that Hosoe shared Mishima's militarism, or the reactionary political beliefs which ultimately led to the writer's death by ritual suicide in 1970.
This portrait of Mishima was one of many published posthumously in 'Ba-Ra-Kei' [variously titled 'Killed by Roses' and 'Ordeal by Roses' in English], a collaborative effort with a surreal, psychosexual visual narrative.