The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is a novel by Yukio Mishima, first published in 1963. It tells the story of a 13-year-old boy named Noboru and his widowed mother Fusako, who falls in love with a sailor named Ryuji. Noboru initially idolizes Ryuji as a heroic figure representing adventure and the sea, but his admiration turns to hatred when Ryuji gives up his life at sea to settle down with Fusako, abandoning his dreams of glory and death on the ocean

. Noboru is part of a nihilistic gang of boys led by a figure called "the chief," who reject the adult world as meaningless and hypocritical. They see Ryuji's choice to leave the sea as a betrayal of his heroic ideal. To "restore" Ryuji's lost honor, the boys devise a plan to kill him, believing that true heroes must live and die uncompromisingly, like the sea itself. The novel culminates in Ryuji being lured to a remote location, drugged, and killed by the boys, including Noboru, who see this as a way to make him a hero again

. The story explores themes of youth versus adulthood, idealism versus reality, and the destructive consequences of rigid, extreme beliefs. It is set in post-war Japan and reflects on shattered families and lost dreams. The novel was adapted into a 1976 film, with the setting changed from Japan to England

. In summary, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is a dark psychological and philosophical novel about a young boy's disillusionment with a once-heroic figure and the tragic consequences that follow. It is considered a major work of Japanese literature and a profound exploration of human nature and societal conflict