ABSTRACT
The february 26 Affair (ni ni-roku jiken) of 1936 has fascinated a great many Japanese and non-Japanese writers alike. One reason for this may be that the Affair contains all the ingredients of a successful kabuki drama: it has both pure-hearted heroes (the rebels or their victims, depending on the viewer's political stand-point) and sinister villains. The tension slowly rises and reaches its climax with an outburst of bloodshed against a snowy background. For a while, the whole stage is in confusion and tumult, as villains cross swords with heroes. Finally the wicked, or idealistic, rebels fail and the gracious, or misguided, emperor wins. The audience expects the losers to commit suicide, but, alas, most of them refuse and are executed. Everything is again well, or rotten, in the condition of Japan as the curtain goes down on the Affair.
