Runaway Horses

Runaway Horses (奔馬 Honba) is the masterpiece of Yukio Mishima in his masterpiece tetralogy The Sea of Fertility, of which it constitutes the 2nd Opus. It relates the first reincarnation of Kiyoaki through the idealist, pure Isao, who kills himself through Seppuku, which is this unique moment of literature «where Isao in the novel foresees the fate of Yukio in real life».

It has an interesting discussion on how the rationalist—or, in the context of the novel, modern—mind approaches the supernatural and the spiritual. It also touches upon themes of idealism and getting through one's obsession, even when it lost meaning, as well as betrayal and loneliness.

It provides one of the segment of Paul Schrader's movie "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters". Someone had the idea to collate all the bits together, and although it's a terrible idea that spoils the fragile equilibrium of the movie, it actually is so good that the result is, in fact, still remarkable. Note that in the movie, Isao confronts the Hinomaru directly, as was contemplated in the novel, but not realized since the Seppuku takes place at night, and it is only in his inner world that Isao sees the sun.