Honkaku-bo Ibun Yasushi Inoue July 5, 1982, 7th Printing Kodansha Housed in a slipcase, cloth-bound hardcover, 203 pages. ¥1500 A masterpiece that explores "the death of an artist" through the self-disembowelment of Sen no Rikyu. The mystery of death is approached through the form of a record by Rikyu's disciple, Honkaku-bo. It depicts the poignant inner landscape of Rikyu, who pursued wabi-cha under the patronage of the powerful Hideyoshi, and took his own life as ordered. This is a representative work of Yasushi Inoue's later years, who was active as a middle-class novelist and established his own unique literary world. Winner of the Japan Literature Award. Furthermore, as "Sen no Rikyu Honkaku-bo Ibun," it was made into a film directed by Kei Kumai and starring Eiji Okuda, and won the Silver Lion Award at the 46th Venice International Film Festival. The top and spine of the outer slipcase are tanned and discolored to brown. However, the main body, both the cover and the text, is clean with no noticeable stains.