The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (known in Japanese as Gogo no Eiko, literally "Afternoon Tow") is a 1963 novel by Yukio Mishima. It follows 13-year-old Noboru, a boy who spends time with a gang of other children who have a philosophical disgust for the adult world and a belief that they should not care about its norms. When Noboru's mother Fusako takes in the sailor Ryuji Tsukazaki and begins a relationship with him, Noboru initially defies his friends' opinion of there being no true heroes in the world and admires him for the heroism of his life by the ocean. But Ryuji, who himself has a dream of finding a glory beyond the bounds of societal convention, is gradually growing disillusioned with that ever being a possibility and begins to consider settling down and marrying Fusako. Noboru feels betrayed by this change in Ryuji's character, and he and his friends decide to take drastic action in response.
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea provides examples of:
- Bolivian Army Ending: The book ends with Ryuji drinking the tea that Noboru's friends gave him to knock him out before killing him; we never get to see them actually killing him, but they've lured him far from any other people and he doesn't seem to have much hope of escaping.
- Disappeared Dad: Noboru's father died a few years ago. He's happy that his father is dead because his philosophy dictates that fathers and teachers are the worst things in the world.
- Glory Seeker: Ryuji became a sailor to chase a dream of glory that he was sure is his destiny, however he has a very vague sense of what this glory is and increasingly comes to believe it's an impossible dream.
- If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: An example that involves killing an actual kitten; Noboru is asked to kill the kitten to prove he is not affected by nonsensical societal rules, and he does so.
- Kids Play Match Breaker: Exaggerated. Noboru and his gang outright decide to kill his mother's fiancé in retaliation for him offering to marry her.
- No Name Given: The other boys in Noboru's gang are never given names; they are only referred to by their ranking in the group.
- Parent with New Paramour: Fusako taking Ryuji as a lover kicks off the plot, with Noboru being initially happy about this but gradually growing disillusioned with Ryuji and coming to hate him.
- Straw Nihilist: Noboru's gang feels that, because the adults around them can't properly justify why the life they live has any meaning, they are justified in even murdering to prove they are not constrained by senseless taboos.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Noboru's gang puts a drug in Ryuji's tea to knock him out so they can kill him.
- Teens Are Monsters: Noboru and his friends, who are all young teenagers, kill a kitten to prove that they are not constrained by the taboo of murder and later decide to kill Ryuji as well.
- Time Skip: The first half of the book is titled "Summer" and naturally takes place in the "Summer". The second half is titled "Winter" and takes place six months later.
- A True Hero: Played very darkly: Noboru sees Ryuji as a hero for his authenticity and life by the sea, contradicting the rest of his friend group's opinion that there are no real heroes. When Ryuji proves not to match that ideal of him the group decides that the only way to "make him a hero" again is to kill him and have him be heroic in death.
