Japanese No drama is one of the great art forms that has fascinated people throughout the world. The late Yukio Mishima, one of Japan's outstanding post-war writers, infused new life into the form by using it for plays that preserve the style and inner spirit of No and are at the same time so modern, so direct, and intelligible that they could, as he suggested, be played on a bench in Central Park. Here are five of his No plays, stunning in their contemporary nature and relevance—and finally made available again for readers to enjoy.

三島由紀夫（1925—1970），生於東京，本名平岡公威。1947 年從東京大學法學部畢業，進入大藏省任職。翌年9月辭職，開始專事創作。1949 年，長篇小說《假麵的自白》齣版，確立瞭三島由紀夫專業作傢的身份。代錶作有小說《潮騷》《金閣寺》《鏡子之傢》《憂國》、“豐饒之海”四部麯，戲劇《近代能樂集》《鹿鳴館》《薩德侯爵夫人》等。