In The Sound of the Waves, Yukio Mishima creates an exquisite story that has strong idealistic and mythic characteristics. Although Mishima talks about young love and tranquility in The Sound of Waves, his later works are classified as aggressive and containing violent sexual actions. Even Mishima himself called The Sound of the Waves “that great public joke” (qtd. in Ishiguro 385). However, this novel cannot be compared to Mishima's other literary works; In order to classify it as fictionalized, one must evaluate the use of imagery, idealized setting, mythical allusions, and characterizations that establish the romantic qualities of The Sound of Waves. It is evident that nature plays a major role throughout The Sound. of Waves, as the reader might expect from a Japanese novel. The reader first encounters Shinji at “the flight of stone steps” with “flowers of peace blooming in the shrine garden, dark and shrouded in twilight” (Mishima 6). Mishima's use of nature helps reinforce the purity of the love between Shinji and Hatsue. When they first meet, “the sea beneath them [overflows] with a final glow” (50) and “the stars [begin] to shine” (51). Hatsue's kiss is even compared to seaweed and the "bright, fresh salty taste" (67) of the sea; these symbols emphasize a parallel between romance and romance. Mishima also creates the emotion-related aspect of nature and frequently references weather imagery to convey Shinji's thoughts and emotions. Particularly, when Shinji sees Hatsue naked at the observation tower. When they meet, a storm brews and the waves “break and break…” (70); this reflects Shinji's sexual tension. According to Napier, "the language of this passage underlies...... middle of paper ......s, the reader can conclude that Mishima has created a novel, which contains idealized and mythical features, which emphasize love. story between Shinji and Hatsue. Mishima develops a relationship between nature and romance, creates an idealized setting and gives heroic traits to nature and Shinji. Overall, The Sound of Waves contains several unrealistic but hopeful events, such as saving Hatsue's nature from rape; we can therefore classify this novel as fictionalized. Works Cited1. The Sound of Waves Trans Meredith Weatherby, 1956. Print.2. Realism by Mishima Yukio and Oe Kenzaburo. Cambridge Mass. : Council on East Asian Studies Harvard U, 1991. Print.3 Shabecoff, Philip. “Everyone in Japan has heard of him.” Internet May 26. 2014.