“It is frightening to see the ruins of beauty, but it is even more frightening to see beauty clearly lingering in those ruins.”
- January 14, 1925 – November 25, 1970
- Born in Japan
- Novelist, playwright, critic, political activist
- He became a representative figure of postwar Japanese literature, and was highly acclaimed both at home and abroad. He pursued his own unique aesthetic with themes of beauty and death, and ultimately committed seppuku at a Self-Defense Forces garrison. His life, which combined literature with action, continues to have a strong influence today.
Japanese
「美の廃址を見るのも怖いが、廃址にありありと残る美を見るのも怖い。」
English
“It is frightening to see the ruins of beauty, but it is even more frightening to see beauty clearly lingering in those ruins.”
Explanation
In this quote, Mishima touches on the fragility and transience of beauty. He suggests that there is a disturbing quality in not just witnessing the decay of something once beautiful, but also in seeing the remnants of beauty still persist in those ruins. The “ruins” symbolize impermanence, the inevitable decline of all things, including beauty. Yet, Mishima emphasizes that it is not merely the decay itself that is unsettling, but the lingering beauty—the ghostly presence of something once whole but now in disrepair. This represents a kind of sadness, as the beauty remains, but it is now trapped in a state of decay, reminding us of the inevitable passage of time and the imperfection of human creations.
Mishima often dealt with the theme of impermanence in his works, particularly in relation to the aesthetic ideal. He believed that beauty, while deeply connected to human experience, was also marked by an inherent ephemerality. The sight of beauty fading away—but still faintly present—forces us to confront the dissonance between the ideal of beauty and its inevitable deterioration. In a way, Mishima is suggesting that beauty’s imperfection and decay hold an inherent tragic beauty, one that is both fascinating and terrifying because it forces us to reckon with loss and change in the world around us.
In a modern context, this quote can be interpreted as a commentary on the temporary nature of beauty in our fast-paced, consumer-driven society. From decaying architecture to aging celebrities, we often encounter the remnants of beauty—those fragments of something once perfect—that remind us of the relentlessness of time. Mishima’s reflection invites us to think about how we engage with beauty in a world where everything seems to be in constant flux. The lingering beauty in ruins can be seen as a symbol of both nostalgia for the past and a recognition that beauty, no matter how cherished, is always subject to the forces of decay, imperfection, and transformation.
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