After the Banquet

"After the Banquet" (宴のあと, "Utage no Ato") is a novel by Yukio Mishima. It follows Kazu, a middle-aged proprietress of an up-scale Japanese restaurant that caters to politicians. She meets a semi-retired ambassador, Noguchi, grows to like him, and eventually marries him. From there the novel explores the conflicts that rise up between the two, as the tensions between the political world, Kazu's formerly well-ordered life, and Noguchi's integrity flare up. It is written in a distinctly Japanese style, betraying little of the interior emotions of the characters and dwelling on the minutia of clothing and food in great detail.

It was first published in 1960 under the Japanese title "Utage No Ato". The New Yorker called it "the biggest and most profound thing Mishima has done so far in an already distinguished career" upon its translation into English by Donald Keene in 1963.

The politician Hachiro Arita sued Mishima, claiming its publication violated his privacy. The Tokyo District Court found in favor of Arita on 28 September 1964, Japan's first judicial recognition Japan of the right to privacy. The case became very famous due to its celebrity litigants and the groundbreaking decision; it was named the "After the Banquet case" (Utage no Ato Saiban).