was the
pen nameA pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of , a
JapaneseThe are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries are referred to as...
author, poet and playwright, also remembered for his ritual suicide by
seppukuis a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai honor code, seppuku was used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies, as a form of capital punishment for samurai who have...
.
Early life
Mishima was born in the Yotsuya district of
Tokyo, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the city of Tokyo in the eastern part of the prefecture, totaling over 8 million people....
(now part of
Shinjukuis one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the busiest train station in the world , and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration center for the government of Tokyo.Surrounding Shinjuku Station are department...
). His father was Azusa Hiraoka, a government official, and his mother, Shizue, was the daughter of a school principal in Tokyo. His paternal grandparents were Jotarō and Natsuko Hiraoka. He had a younger sister named Mitsuko, who died of typhus, and a younger brother named Chiyuki.
Mishima's early childhood was dominated by the shadow of his grandmother, Natsu, who took the boy and separated him from his immediate family for several years. Natsu was the illegitimate granddaughter of
Matsudaira Yoritaka; was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo Period who served as daimyo of Shishido han. Retiring early, he was succeeded by his son Matsudaira Yorinori, but Yoritaka returned to headship following Yorinori's death in 1864...
, the
daimyois a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in premodern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
of Shishido in
Hitachi ProvinceHitachi was an old province of Japan which bordered on Iwashiro, Iwaki, Shimousa, and Shimotsuke Provinces. Today the area is mostly Ibaraki Prefecture....
, and had been raised in the household of
Prince Arisugawa Taruhitobecame the 9th head of line of shinnōke cadet branches of the Imperial Family of Japan on September 9, 1871. He was a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army.-Early life:...
; she maintained considerable
aristocraticAristocracy is a form of government, in which a few of the most prominent citizens rule. This may be a hereditary elite, or it may be by a system of cooption where a council of prominent citizens add leading soldiers, merchants, land owners, priests, and lawyers to their number...
pretensions even after marrying Mishima's grandfather, a bureaucrat who had made his fortune in the newly opened colonial frontier and who rose to become Governor-General of Karafuto. She was also prone to violence and morbid outbursts, which are occasionally alluded to in Mishima's works. It is to Natsu that some biographers have traced Mishima's fascination with death. Natsu did not allow Mishima to venture into the sunlight, to engage in any kind of
sportSport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome , but the term is also used to include activities such as...
or to play with other boys; he spent much of his time alone or with female cousins and their dolls.
Mishima returned to his immediate family at 12. His father, a man with a taste for military discipline, employed such tactics as holding the young boy up to the side of a speeding train; he also raided Mishima's room for evidence of an "effeminate" interest in literature and often ripped up the boy's manuscripts.
Schooling and early works
At 12, Mishima began to write his first stories. He read voraciously the works of
Oscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest "celebrities" of his day...
,
Rainer Maria RilkeRainer Maria Rilke is considered one of the German language's greatest 20th-century poets...
and numerous classic Japanese authors. He attended the elite
Peers SchoolThe or Peers School is an educational institution founded in Tokyo in 1877, during the Meiji period, for the education of the children of the Japanese aristocracy, though it eventually also opened its doors to the offspring of extremely wealthy commoners...
(Gakushuin 学習院).
After six years at school, he became the youngest member of the editorial board in its literary society. Mishima was attracted to the works of
Tachihara Michizōwas a Japanese poet and architect. He died at age 24 from tuberculosis, before either career could seriously get under way. Michizō struggled to find a way for an urban poet to root himself in traditional customs and still be "modern."...
, which in turn created an appreciation for the
classicalJapanese poets first encountered Chinese poetry when it was at its peak in the Tang Dynasty. It took them several hundred years to digest the foreign impact, make it a part of their culture and merge it with their literary tradition in their mother tongue, and begin to develop the diversity of...
form of the
wakaWaka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...
. Mishima's first published works included
waka poetry, before he turned his attention to prose.
He was invited to write a
proseProse is the ordinary form of written language. The word "prose" is derived from the Latin prosa, which literally translates to "straightforward". Prose is adopted for the discussion of facts and topical reading, as it is often articulated in free form writing style...
short storyA short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format or medium tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels or books...
for the Peers' School
literary magazineA literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
and submitted
Hanazakari no Mori (花ざかりの森
The Forest in Full Bloom), a story in which the narrator describes the feeling that his ancestors somehow still live within him. Mishima’s teachers were so impressed with the work that they recommended it for the prestigious literary magazine,
Bungei-Bunka (文芸文化
Literary Culture). The story, which makes use of the
metaphorA metaphor is a figure of speech concisely comparing two things, saying that one is the other. The English metaphor derives from the 16th c...
s and
aphorismThe word aphorism denotes an original thought, spoken or written in a laconic and easily memorable form....
s which later became his trademarks, was published in book form in 1944, albeit in a limited fashion (4,000 copies) because of the wartime shortage of paper. In order to protect him from a possible backlash from his schoolmates, his teachers coined the pen-name "Yukio Mishima".
Mishima's story
Tabako (煙草
The Cigarette), published in 1946, describes some of the scorn and bullying he faced at school when he later confessed to members of the school's
rugby unionRugby union is a full contact team sport, a form of football which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. It is played with an oval-shaped ball, outdoors on a level field, usually with a grass surface, 100 m...
club that he belonged to the literary society. This trauma also provided material for the later story
Shi o Kaku Shōnen (詩を書く少年
The Boy Who Wrote Poetry) in 1954.
Mishima received a
draftConscription is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by an established authority. It is most often used in the specific sense of requiring citizens to serve in the armed forces...
notice for the
Imperial Japanese ArmyThe Imperial Japanese Army , or literally Army of the Empire of Greater Japan was the official ground based armed force of Imperial Japan from 1867 to 1945...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. At the time of his medical check up, he had a cold and spontaneously lied to the army doctor about having symptoms of
tuberculosisTuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria...
and thus was declared unfit for service.
Although his father had forbidden him to write any further stories, Mishima continued to write secretly every night, supported and protected by his mother, who was always the first to read a new story. Attending lectures during the day and writing at night, Mishima graduated from the
University of TokyoThe , abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano...
in 1947. He obtained a position as an official in the government's Finance Ministry and was set up for a promising career.
However, Mishima had exhausted himself so much that his father agreed to his resigning from his position during his first year in order to devote his time to writing.
Post-war literature
Mishima was a disciplined and versatile writer. He wrote not only novels, popular serial
novellaA novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. While there is disagreement as to what length defines a novella, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count...
s, short stories and literary essays, but also highly acclaimed plays for the
Kabukiis the highly stylized classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers....
theater and modern versions of traditional
Noh, or is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing both the male and female roles. The repertoire is normally limited to a specific set of historical plays...
drama.
Mishima began the short story
Misaki nite no Monogatari (岬にての物語
A Story at the Cape) in 1945, and continued to work on it through the end of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In January 1946, he visited famed writer
Yasunari Kawabatawas a Japanese short story writer and novelist whose spare, lyrical, subtly-shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal and are still widely read.- Biography :Born in Osaka,...
in
Kamakurais a city located in Kanagawa, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called . Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is sometimes considered a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the Kamakura Period...
, taking with him the manuscripts for
Chūsei (中世
The Middle Ages) and
Tabako, and asking for Kawabata’s advice and assistance. In June 1946, per Kawabata's recommendations,
Tabako was published in the new literary magazine
Ningen (人間
Humanity).
Also in 1946, Mishima began his first novel,
Tōzoku (盗賊
Thieves), a story about two young members of the aristocracy drawn towards suicide. It was published in 1948, placing Mishima in the ranks of the Second Generation of Postwar Writers. He followed with
Confessions of a Maskis Japanese author Yukio Mishima's first novel. Published in 1948, it launched him to national fame though he was only in his early twenties.Confessions of a Mask is an account, usually considered at least semi-autobiographical, of a boy growing up in a Japan that is war-torn and militaristic...
, a semi-
autobiographicalAn autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
account of a young latent homosexual who must hide behind a mask in order to fit into society. The novel was extremely successful and made Mishima a celebrity at the age of 24. Around 1949, Mishima published a series of essays in
Kindai Bungaku on
Yasunari Kawabatawas a Japanese short story writer and novelist whose spare, lyrical, subtly-shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal and are still widely read.- Biography :Born in Osaka,...
, for whom he had always had a deep appreciation.
His writing gained him international celebrity and a sizable following in Europe and America, as many of his most famous works were translated into
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
. Mishima traveled extensively; in 1952 he visited
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
, which had fascinated him since childhood. Elements from his visit appear in
Shiosai (潮騒
Sound of the Waves), which was published in 1954, and which drew inspiration from the
Greek legendGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
of
Daphnis and ChloeDaphnis and Chloe is the only known work of the 2nd century AD Greek novelist and romancer Longus.-Setting and style:It is set on the isle of Lesbos during the 2nd century AD, which is also assumed to be the author's home...
.
Mishima made use of contemporary events in many of his works.
The Temple of the Golden PavilionThe Temple of the Golden Pavilion is a novel by the Japanese author Yukio Mishima. It was published in 1956 and translated into English by Ivan Morris in 1959.-Plot introduction:...
in 1956 is a fictionalization of the burning of the famous temple in
Kyotois a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area....
.
Utage no Ato (
After the Banquet), published in 1960, so closely followed the events surrounding politician
Hachirō Aritawas a Japanese politician and diplomat who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs for three terms. He is believed to have originated the concept of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.- Biography :...
's campaign to become governor of Tokyo that Mishima was sued for
invasion of privacyUnited States privacy law embodies several different legal concepts. One is the invasion of privacy, a tort based in common law allowing an aggrieved party to bring a lawsuit against an individual who unlawfully intrudes into his or her private affairs, discloses his or her private information,...
. In 1962, Mishima's most
avant-gardeAvant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English, to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
work,
Utsukushii Hoshi (
Beautiful Star), which at times comes close to
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
, was published to mixed critical response.
Mishima was among those considered for the Nobel Prize for Literature three times and was the darling of many foreign publications. However, in 1968 his early mentor Kawabata won the Nobel Prize and Mishima realized that the chances of it being given to another Japanese author in the near future were slim. It is also believed that Mishima wanted to leave the prize to the aging Kawabata, out of respect for the man who had first introduced him to the literary circles of Tokyo in the 1940s.
Acting
Mishima was also an actor, and he had a starring role in
Yasuzo MasumuraYasuzo Masumura was a Japanese film director.He was born in Kofu on Honshū. After dropping out of a law course at the University of Tokyo he worked as an assistant director at the Daiei studio, later returning to university to study philosophy; he graduated in 1949...
's 1960 film,
Afraid to Die. He also has had roles in films including
Yukoku (1966),
Black Lizard (1968) and
Hitokiri (1969). He also sang the theme song for
Hitokiri.
Private life
In 1955, Mishima took up
weight trainingWeight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength and size of skeletal muscles. It uses the force of gravity to oppose the force generated by muscle through concentric or eccentric contraction...
and his workout regimen of three sessions per week was not disrupted for the final 15 years of his life. In his 1968 essay
Sun and SteelSun and Steel: Art, Action and Ritual Death is a book by Yukio Mishima. It is an autobiographical essay, a memoir of the author's relationship to his body...
, Mishima deplored the emphasis given by intellectuals to the mind over the body. Mishima later also became very skillful at
kendō, meaning "Way of the Sword", is a modern Japanese martial art of sword-fighting based on traditional Japanese swordsmanship, or Kenjutsu.Kendo is a physically and mentally challenging activity that combines strong martial arts values with sport-like physical elements.-Practitioners:Practitioners...
.
Although he visited
gay barA gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT and queer communities...
s in Japan, Mishima's
sexual orientationSexual orientation is a pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions to men, women, both genders, neither gender, or another gender...
remains a matter of debate, though his widow wanted that part of his life downplayed after his death. However, several people have claimed to have had homosexual relationships with Mishima, including writer Jiro Fukushima who, in his book, published a revealing correspondence between himself and the famed novelist. Soon after publication, Mishima's children successfully sued Fukushima for violating Mishima's privacy. After briefly considering a marital alliance with
Michiko ShōdaEmpress Michiko of Japan, formerly and later the Crown Princess of Japan , is the wife and consort of the reigning Emperor of Japan, HIM Emperor Akihito. She was the first commoner to marry into the Japanese Imperial Family...
—she later became the wife of Emperor Akihito—he married Yoko Sugiyama on June 11, 1958. The couple had two children, a daughter named Noriko (born June 2, 1959) and a son named Ichiro (born May 2, 1962).
In 1967, Mishima enlisted in the
Ground Self Defense ForceThe , or JSDF, occasionally referred to as JSF or SDF, are the military forces in Japan that were established after the end of the post-World War II US occupation of Japan. For most of the post-war period the forces were confined to the islands of Japan and not permitted to be deployed abroad. In...
(GSDF) and underwent basic training. A year later, he formed the
TatenokaiThe Tatenokai or Shield Society was a private militia in Japan dedicated to traditional Japanese values and veneration of the Emperor. It was founded and led by the author Yukio Mishima....
(Shield Society), a private army composed primarily of young students who studied martial principles and physical discipline, and swore to protect the
EmperorThe of Japan is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the Japanese people. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family. He is also the highest authority of the Shinto religion...
. Mishima trained them himself. However, under Mishima's ideology, the emperor was not necessarily the reigning Emperor, but rather the abstract essence of Japan. In
Eirei no Koe (
Voices of the Heroic Dead), Mishima actually denounces Emperor Hirohito for renouncing his claim of divinity at the end of World War II.
In the last 10 years of his life, Mishima wrote several full length plays, acted in several movies and co-directed an adaptation of one of his stories,
Patriotism, the Rite of Love and Death is a 1966 Japanese short drama film directed by Yukio Mishima and Domoto Masaki. The English-language release was originally entitled The Rite of Love and Death.Mishima wrote Yûkoku four years before his death...
. He also continued work on his final
tetralogyA tetralogy is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works, just as a trilogy is made up of three works....
,
Hōjō no Umi (
Sea of Fertility), which appeared in monthly serialized format starting in September 1965.
Ritual suicide
On November 25, 1970, Mishima and four members of the Tatenokai, under pretext, visited the commandant of the
IchigayaIchigaya is an area in the eastern portion of Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.-Places in Ichigaya:*Chuo University Graduate School*Ministry of Defense headquarters: Formerly GHQ of the Imperial Japanese Army; following World War II, the building became the headquarters for the Japan Ground Self-Defense...
Camp—the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of
Japan's Self-Defense ForcesThe , or JSDF, occasionally referred to as JSF or SDF, are the military forces in Japan that were established after the end of the post-World War II US occupation of Japan. For most of the post-war period the forces were confined to the islands of Japan and not permitted to be deployed abroad. In...
. Inside, they barricaded the office and tied the commandant to his chair. With a prepared manifesto and banner listing their demands, Mishima stepped onto the balcony to address the soldiers gathered below. His speech was intended to inspire a
coup d'etatA coup d'état , or coup for short, is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a legitimate government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another, either civil or military...
restoring the powers of the emperor. He succeeded only in irritating them, however, and was mocked and jeered. He finished his planned speech after a few minutes, returned to the commandant's office and committed
seppukuis a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai honor code, seppuku was used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies, as a form of capital punishment for samurai who have...
. The customary
kaishakuninA kaishakunin is an appointed second whose duty is to behead one who has committed seppuku, Japanese ritual suicide, at the moment of agony...
duty at the end of this
ritualA ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value, which is prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers, or dictated purely by logic, chance, necessity, etc..A ritual may be...
had been assigned to Tatenokai member
Masakatsu Moritawas the Tatenokai member who committed seppuku with Yukio Mishima at the Ichigaya Camp.He was the youngest child of a headmaster. Losing both parents at the age of two, he was cared for by his brother Osamu and educated at a Catholic school...
, but Morita was unable to properly perform the task: after several attempts, he allowed another Tatenokai member,
Hiroyasu KogaHiroyasu Koga is a former Tatenokai member responsible for the decapitation of Yukio Mishima during his seppuku on November 25, 1970...
, to behead Mishima.
Another traditional element of the suicide ritual was the composition of
jisei (
death poemA is a poem written near the time of one's own death. It is a tradition for literate people to write one in a number of different cultures, especially in Japan.-History:...
s) before their entry into the headquarters. Mishima planned his suicide meticulously for at least a year and no one outside the group of hand-picked Tatenokai members had any indication of what he was planning. His biographer, translator and former friend
John NathanJohn Nathan is the translator of Japanese works written by celebrated authors such as Yukio Mishima and Kenzaburo Oe. Nathan is also an Emmy-award winning producer, writer and director of many films about Japanese culture and society and American business.He studied at University of Tokyo...
suggests that the coup attempt was only a pretext for the ritual suicide of which Mishima had long dreamed. Mishima made sure his affairs were in order and left money for the legal defence of the three surviving Tatenokai members.
Aftermath
Much speculation has surrounded Mishima's suicide. At the time of his death he had just completed the final book in his
The Sea of Fertilityis a tetralogy written by the Japanese author Yukio Mishima. The four novels include Spring Snow , Runaway Horses , The Temple of Dawn and The Decay of the Angel . The series, which Mishima began writing in 1964 and was his final work, is usually thought of as his masterpiece...
tetralogyA tetralogy is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works, just as a trilogy is made up of three works....
. He was recognized as one of the most important post-war stylists of the
Japanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...
.
Mishima wrote 40 novels, 18 plays, 20 books of short stories, and at least 20 books of essays, one
librettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata.Libretto ,...
, as well as one film. A large portion of this oeuvre comprises books written quickly for profit, but even if these are disregarded, a substantial body of work remains.
Politics
Mishima espoused a very individual brand of
nationalismNationalism is an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of a specific nation...
towards the end of his life. He was hated by leftists, in particular for his outspoken and anachronistic commitment to
bushidō, meaning "Way of the Warrior", is a Japanese code of conduct and a way of the samurai life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry. It originates from the samurai moral code and stresses frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and honor unto death. Born of two main influences, the violent...
(the code of the
samuraiis the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
) and by mainstream nationalists for his contention, in
Bunka Bōeiron (文化防衛論
A Defense of Culture), that Hirohito should have abdicated and taken responsibility for the war dead.
Awards
- Shincho Prize from Shinchosha Publishing, 1954, for The Sound of Waves
is a Japanese novel written by celebrated Japanese author Yukio Mishima and published in 1954. It is a coming of age novel detailing the maturity of protagonist Shinji and his romance with Hatsue, the beautiful daughter of the wealthy ship-owner Terukichi. For this book Mishima was awarded the...
.
- Kishida Prize for Drama from Shinchosha Publishing, 1955.
- Yomiuri Prize
The is a prestigious literary award in Japan. The prize was founded in 1948 by the Yomiuri Shinbun Company to help form a "cultural nation". The winner is awarded one million Japanese yen and an inkstone.-Award categories:...
from Yomiuri Newspaper Co., for best novel, 1957, The Temple of the Golden PavilionThe Temple of the Golden Pavilion is a novel by the Japanese author Yukio Mishima. It was published in 1956 and translated into English by Ivan Morris in 1959.-Plot introduction:...
.
- Yomiuri Prize from Yomiuri Newspaper Co., for best drama, 1961, Toka no Kiku.
Major works
| Japanese Title |
English Title |
Year |
English translation, year |
ISBN |
假面の告白
Kamen no Kokuhaku |
Confessions of a Mask is Japanese author Yukio Mishima's first novel. Published in 1948, it launched him to national fame though he was only in his early twenties.Confessions of a Mask is an account, usually considered at least semi-autobiographical, of a boy growing up in a Japan that is war-torn and militaristic...
|
1948 |
Meredith Weatherby Meredith Weatherby was a Texas-born American publisher who spent a large part of his life in Japan and who is known in particular for his English translations of the literary works by Yukio Mishima...
, 1958 |
ISBN 0-8112-0118-X |
愛の渇き
Ai no Kawaki |
Thirst for Love Thirst for Love is a 1950 novel by the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. The word "kawaki" literally means thirst, but has a sense of parched dryness associated with it. The title of the movie version has also been translated as Longing for Love.Thirst for Love is Mishima's third novel, following...
|
1950 |
Alfred H. Marks, 1969 |
ISBN 4-10-105003-1 |
禁色
Kinjiki |
Forbidden Colorsis a novel by Yukio Mishima, translated into English in 1968. The name kinjiki is a euphemism for homosexuality. The kanji 禁 means "forbidden" and 色 in this case means "erotic love", although it can also mean "color". The word "kinjiki" also means colors which were forbidden to be worn by people of...
|
1953 |
Alfred H. Marks, 1968–1974 |
ISBN 0-375-70516-3 |
潮騷
Shiosai |
The Sound of Waves is a Japanese novel written by celebrated Japanese author Yukio Mishima and published in 1954. It is a coming of age novel detailing the maturity of protagonist Shinji and his romance with Hatsue, the beautiful daughter of the wealthy ship-owner Terukichi. For this book Mishima was awarded the...
|
1954 |
Meredith Weatherby Meredith Weatherby was a Texas-born American publisher who spent a large part of his life in Japan and who is known in particular for his English translations of the literary works by Yukio Mishima...
, 1956 |
ISBN 0-679-75268-4 |
金閣寺
Kinkaku-ji* |
The Temple of the Golden PavilionThe Temple of the Golden Pavilion is a novel by the Japanese author Yukio Mishima. It was published in 1956 and translated into English by Ivan Morris in 1959.-Plot introduction:...
|
1956 |
Ivan Morris Ivan Ira Esme Morris was a British author and teacher in the field of Japanese Studies.Ivan Morris was born in London to Ira Victor Morris and Edita Morris. A graduate of Phillips Academy, he began his study of Japanese language and culture at Harvard University, where he received a BA...
, 1959 |
ISBN 0-679-75270-6 |
鏡子の家
Kyōko no Ie |
Kyoko's House is a 1959 novel by the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.The book tells the interconnected stories of four young men who represent different facets of the author's personality...
|
1959 |
|
ISBN |
宴のあと
Utage no Ato |
After the Banquet After the Banquet is a novel by Yukio Mishima. It follows Kazu, a middle-aged proprietress of an up-scale Japanese restaurant that caters to politicians. She meets a semi-retired ambassador, Noguchi, grows to like him, and eventually marries him...
|
1960 |
Donald Keene Donald Lawrence Keene is a Japanologist, scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture...
, 1963 |
ISBN 0-399-50486-9 |
午後の曳航
Gogo no Eikō |
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the SeaThe Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea , is a novel written by Yukio Mishima, published in Japanese in 1963 and translated into English by John Nathan in 1965.-Plot summary:...
|
1963 |
John Nathan John Nathan is the translator of Japanese works written by celebrated authors such as Yukio Mishima and Kenzaburo Oe. Nathan is also an Emmy-award winning producer, writer and director of many films about Japanese culture and society and American business.He studied at University of Tokyo...
, 1965 |
ISBN 0-679-75015-0 |
絹と明察
Kinu to Meisatsu |
Silk and Insight |
1964 |
Hiroaki Sato Hiroaki Sato is a former Japanese football player and manager. He was part of the Japan national team for the 1956 Summer Olympics football competition in Melbourne....
, 1998 |
ISBN 0-7656-0299-7 |
三熊野詣
Mikumano Mōde
(short story) |
Acts of Worship |
1965 |
John Bester John Bester , born and educated in England, is one of the foremost translators of modern Japanese fiction. He is a graduate of the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies.-Works:...
, 1995 |
ISBN 0-87011-824-2 |
サド侯爵夫人
Sado Kōshaku Fujin
(play) |
Madame de Sade Madame de Sade is a 1965 play written by Yukio Mishima. It was first published in English, translated by Donald Keene by Grove Press and is currently out of print....
|
1965 |
Donald Keene Donald Lawrence Keene is a Japanologist, scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture...
, 1967 |
ISBN 0-394-17304-X |
憂國
Yūkoku
(short story) |
Patriotism |
1966 |
Geoffrey W. Sargent, 1966 |
ISBN 0-8112-1312-9 |
真夏の死
Manatsu no Shi |
Death in Midsummer and other stories Death in Midsummer and other stories is a 1966 collection of stories by Yukio Mishima that had been previously translated into English. It contains one play, Dōjōji, based on a Nō drama of that name.-Stories:...
|
1966 |
Edward G. Seidensticker, Ivan Morris Ivan Ira Esme Morris was a British author and teacher in the field of Japanese Studies.Ivan Morris was born in London to Ira Victor Morris and Edita Morris. A graduate of Phillips Academy, he began his study of Japanese language and culture at Harvard University, where he received a BA...
,
Donald KeeneDonald Lawrence Keene is a Japanologist, scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture...
, Geoffrey W. Sargent, 1966 |
ISBN 0-8112-0117-1 |
葉隠入門
Hagakure Nyūmon |
Way of the Samurai |
1967 |
Kathryn Sparling, 1977 |
ISBN 0-465-09089-3 |
わが友ヒットラー
Waga Tomo Hittorā
(play) |
My Friend Hitler and Other Plays |
1968 |
Hiroaki Sato, 2002 |
ISBN 0-231-12633-6 |
太陽と鐡
Taiyō to Tetsu |
Sun and Steel Sun and Steel: Art, Action and Ritual Death is a book by Yukio Mishima. It is an autobiographical essay, a memoir of the author's relationship to his body...
|
1970 |
John Bester John Bester , born and educated in England, is one of the foremost translators of modern Japanese fiction. He is a graduate of the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies.-Works:...
|
ISBN 4-7700-2903-9 |
豐饒の海
Hōjō no Umi |
The Sea of Fertility is a tetralogy written by the Japanese author Yukio Mishima. The four novels include Spring Snow , Runaway Horses , The Temple of Dawn and The Decay of the Angel . The series, which Mishima began writing in 1964 and was his final work, is usually thought of as his masterpiece...
tetralogyA tetralogy is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works, just as a trilogy is made up of three works....
: |
1964-
1970 |
|
ISBN 0-677-14960-3 |
I. 春の雪
Haru no Yuki |
1. Spring Snow is a 1966 novel by Yukio Mishima, the first in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. Mishima did extensive research, including visits to Enshō-ji in Nara, to prepare for the novel.-Plot:...
|
1968 |
Michael Gallagher Michael Gallagher is an author and translator of Japanese literature. His translation of Yukio Mishima's Spring Snow was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1973, while his nonfiction work Laws of Heaven was the winner of the Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Book Award in Theology. As a Jesuit...
, 1972 |
ISBN 0-394-44239-3 |
II. 奔馬
Honba |
2. Runaway Horses is a 1969 novel by Yukio Mishima, the second in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. Mishima did much research to prepare for this novel, including visiting locations recorded in the book and searching for information on the Shimpūren Rebellion .-Plot:Set between June 1932 and December 1933, it tells...
|
1969 |
Michael Gallagher Michael Gallagher is an author and translator of Japanese literature. His translation of Yukio Mishima's Spring Snow was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1973, while his nonfiction work Laws of Heaven was the winner of the Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Book Award in Theology. As a Jesuit...
, 1973 |
ISBN 0-394-46618-7 |
III. 曉の寺
Akatsuki no Tera |
3. The Temple of Dawn is the third novel in the Sea of Fertility tetralogy by the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. Like for the other novels in the series, Mishima traveled to various places to conduct research, including Wat Arun in Bangkok, Thailand.-Plot:...
|
1970 |
E. Dale Saunders E. Dale Saunders was an American scholar of Romance languages and literature, Japanese Buddhism, Classical Japanese Literature, and East Asian Civilization....
and Cecilia S. Seigle, 1973 |
ISBN 0-394-46614-4 |
IV. 天人五衰
Tennin Gosui |
4. The Decay of the Angel is a novel by Yukio Mishima and is the fourth and last in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy.-Explanation of the title:In Buddhist scriptures, Devas are mortal angels...
|
1970 |
Edward SeidenstickerEdward George Seidensticker was a noted scholar and translator of Japanese literature. He was particularly known for his English version of The Tale of Genji , which is counted among the preferred modern translations...
, 1974 |
ISBN 0-394-46613-6 |
*
For the temple called Kinkaku-ji, see Kinkaku-ji, or formally is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan.-History:The original Kinkaku-ji was built in 1397 to serve as a retirement villa for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, as part of his estate then known as Kitayama...
.
Plays for classical Japanese theatre
In addition to contemporary-style plays such as
Madame de Sade, Mishima wrote for two of the three genres of classical Japanese theatre:
Noh, or is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing both the male and female roles. The repertoire is normally limited to a specific set of historical plays...
and
Kabukiis the highly stylized classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers....
(as a proud Tokyoite, he would not even attend the
Bunraku, also known as Ningyō jōruri , is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684.Three kinds of performers take part in a bunraku performance:* Ningyōtsukai or Ningyōzukai - Puppeteers* Tayū - the chanters* Shamisen players...
puppet theatre, always associated with
Osakais a city in Japan, located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the main island of Honshū.Osaka is a City in Japan and also is designated city under the Local Autonomy Law and the capital city of Osaka Prefecture...
and the provinces).
Though Mishima took themes, titles and characters from the Noh canon, his twists and modern settings, such as hospitals and ballrooms, startled audiences accustomed to the long-settled originals.
Donald KeeneDonald Lawrence Keene is a Japanologist, scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture...
translated
Five Modern Noh Plays (Tuttle, 1981; ISBN 0-8048-1380-9). Most others remain untranslated and so lack an "official" English title; in such cases it is therefore preferable to use the rōmaji title.
| Year |
Japanese Title |
English Title |
Genre |
| 1950 |
邯鄲
Kantan |
|
Noh |
| 1952 |
卒塔婆小町
Sotoba Komachi |
Komachi at the StupaA stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, once thought to be places of Buddhist worship, typically the remains of a Buddha or saint...
(gravepost) |
Noh |
| 1954 |
鰯賣戀曳網
Iwashi Uri Koi Hikiami |
Dragnet of a Sardine-Seller's Love |
Kabuki |
| 1955 |
綾の鼓
Aya no TsuzumiAya no Tsuzumi is a Japanese Noh play by an unknown author which depicts the evil consequences of unrequited desire.-Title:...
|
The Damask Drum |
Noh |
| 1955 |
芙蓉露大内実記
Fuyō no Tsuyu Ōuchi Jikki |
The Ōuchi Clan (oversimplified/not standardised) |
Kabuki |
| 1956 |
班女
Hanjo |
|
Noh |
| 1956 |
葵の上
Aoi no Ueis a fictional character in The Tale of Genji . Daughter of the Minister of the Left and Genji’s first principal wife, she marries Genji when she is sixteen and he only twelve. Proud and distant to her husband, Aoi is constantly aware of the age difference between them and very much hurt by...
|
The Lady Aoi |
Noh |
| 1965 |
弱法師
Yoroboshi |
The Blind Young Man |
Noh |
| 1969 |
椿説弓張月
Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki |
The Crescent, or Crescent Moon: The Adventures of Tametomo, literally "The Strange Theory of a Paper Lantern's Appearance" |
Kabuki |
Films
| Year |
Title |
USA Release Title(s) |
Character |
Director |
| 1951 |
純白の夜
Jumpaku no Yoru |
Unreleased in the U.S. |
|
Hideo Ōba |
| 1959 |
不道徳教育講座
Fudōtoku Kyōikukōza |
Unreleased in the U.S. |
himself |
Katsumi Nishikawa |
| 1960 |
からっ風野郎
Karakkaze Yarō |
Afraid to Die |
Takeo Asahina |
Yasuzo Masumura Yasuzo Masumura was a Japanese film director.He was born in Kofu on Honshū. After dropping out of a law course at the University of Tokyo he worked as an assistant director at the Daiei studio, later returning to university to study philosophy; he graduated in 1949...
|
| 1966 |
憂国
Yūkoku is a 1966 Japanese short drama film directed by Yukio Mishima and Domoto Masaki. The English-language release was originally entitled The Rite of Love and Death.Mishima wrote Yûkoku four years before his death...
|
The Rite of Love and Death
Patriotism |
Shinji Takeyama |
Domoto Masaki, Yukio Mishima |
| 1968 |
黒蜥蝪
Kurotokage |
Black Lizard |
Human Statue |
Kinji Fukasaku was a Japanese film actor, screenwriter, and best known as a celebrated and innovative filmmaker. He was born in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan, and died in Tokyo, from prostate cancer...
|
| 1969 |
人斬り
Hitokiri |
Tenchu! |
Shimbei Tanaka |
Hideo Gosha was a Japanese film director.Among his most famous films are Goyokin and Hitokiri, released in 1969, and The Wolves, released in 1971. His most famous film in the West is Sword of the Beast, released by Criterion....
|
| 1985 |
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is an episodic, stylized 1985 film based on the life and work of the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, directed by Paul Schrader and written by Paul and his brother Leonard Schrader. The film features original music by Philip Glass and performances by the Kronos Quartet...
|
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters |
|
Paul Schrader Paul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter and film director. His influences include Robert Bresson, Yasujiro Ozu and Carl Dreyer, whose cross-cultural similarities he examined in Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer in 1972...
Music by Philip GlassPhilip Morris Glass is an American music composer. He is considered one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .Although his music is often, though controversially, described as...
|
The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima
(BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
documentaryDocumentary film is a broad category of visual expressions that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can...
) |
The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima |
|
Michael Macintyre |
Photo modeling
Mishima has been featured as a photo model in
Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses by
Eikoh HosoeEikoh Hosoe is a Japanese photographer and filmmaker who emerged in the experimental arts movement of post-World War II Japan. He is known for his psychologically charged images, often exploring subjects such as death, erotic obsession, and irrationality...
, as well as in
Young Samurai: Bodybuilders of Japan and
OTOKO: Photo Studies of the Young Japanese Male by
Tamotsu Yatōwas a Japanese photographer and occasional actor responsible for pioneering Japanese homoerotic photography and creating iconic black-and-white images of the Japanese male...
.
Donald RichieDonald Richie is an American-born author who has written about the Japanese people and Japanese cinema. Although he considers himself only a writer, Richie has directed many experimental films, the first when he was 17. Although Richie speaks Japanese fluently, he can neither read nor write it...
gives a short lively account of Mishima, dressed in a loincloth and armed with a sword, posing in the snow for one of
Tamotsu Yatowas a Japanese photographer and occasional actor responsible for pioneering Japanese homoerotic photography and creating iconic black-and-white images of the Japanese male...
's photoshoots.
Works about Mishima
- Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses by Eikō Hosoe and Mishima (photoerotic collection of images of Mishima, with his own commentary) (Aperture 2002 ISBN 0-89381-169-6)
- Deadly Dialectics: Sex, Violence, and Nihilism in the World of Yukio Mishima by Roy Starrs
Roy Starrs is a scholar of Japanese literature and culture who teaches at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He has written critical studies of the major Japanese writers Yasunari Kawabata, Naoya Shiga, Osamu Dazai, and Yukio Mishima, and edited books on Asian nationalism , globalization, and...
(University of HawaiiThe University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, doctoral and post-doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses,...
PressThe University of Hawaii Press is a university press that is part of the University of Hawaii.The University of Hawaii Press was founded in 1947, with the mission of advancing and disseminating scholarship by publishing current research in all disciplines of the humanities and natural and social...
, 1994, ISBN 0-8248-1630-7 and ISBN 0-8248-1630-7)
- Escape from the Wasteland: Romanticism and Realism in the Fiction of Mishima Yukio and Oe Kenzaburo (Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series, No 33) by Susan J. Napier (Harvard University Press, 1995 ISBN 0-674-26181-X)
- Mishima: A Biography by John Nathan
John Nathan is the translator of Japanese works written by celebrated authors such as Yukio Mishima and Kenzaburo Oe. Nathan is also an Emmy-award winning producer, writer and director of many films about Japanese culture and society and American business.He studied at University of Tokyo...
(BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
, Little, Brown and CompanyLittle, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Livre....
1974, ISBN 0-316-59844-5)
- Mishima ou la vision du vide (Mishima : A Vision of the Void), essay by Marguerite Yourcenar
Marguerite Yourcenar was a Belgian novelist. She was the first woman elected to the Académie française in 1980, and the seventeenth to occupy Seat 3.-Biography:...
trans. by Alberto Manguel 2001 ISBN 0-226-96532-5)
- Rogue Messiahs: Tales of Self-Proclaimed Saviors by Colin Wilson
Colin Henry Wilson , a prolific British writer, first came to prominence as a philosopher and novelist. Wilson has since written widely on true crime, mysticism, and other topics.-Biography:...
(Mishima profiled in context of phenomenon of various "outsider" Messiah types), (Hampton Roads Publishing Company 2000 ISBN 1-57174-175-5)
- The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima, by Henry Scott Stokes
Henry Scott Stokes is a British journalist who has been the Tokyo bureau chief for The Financial Times , The Times and The New York Times ....
London : Owen, 1975 ISBN 0-7206-0123-1)
- The Madness and Perversion of Yukio Mishima by Jerry S. Piven. (Westport, Connecticut
Westport is a coastal town located on Long Island Sound in Fairfield County, Connecticut, 47 miles north of New York City in the United States...
, Praeger Publishers, 2004 ISBN 0-275-97985-7)
- Teito Monogatari
is a massive Japanese literary fantasy/historical fiction epic written by Hiroshi Aramata.-History:...
{vol. 5–10) by Hiroshi Aramatais a popular author, translator, and screenplay writer in Japan. Born in Tokyo, he won the Nihon SF Taisho Award in 1987.His most popular novel was Teito Monogatari , which has sold over 3.5 million copies in Japan alone. He also wrote Alexander Senki, a novel which eventually evolved into the...
(a fantasy/historical novel featuring Mishima as a central character contending with malignant spiritual forces which feed off his nationalist pride), (Kadokawa Shotenis a well-known Japanese publisher, based in Tokyo. Kadokawa has published many manga titles as well as magazines, such as Newtype. In recent years, it has expanded into the multimedia sector and now owns the former Daiei Motion Picture Company.-Magazines published:*Asuka*CIEL*Comp...
ISBN/ASIN 4041690056)
- Yukio Mishima by Peter Wolfe
Peter William Wolfe is a poet and a musician of the band Wolfman and the Side-Effects. He is also a friend of Pete Doherty...
("reviews Mishima's life and times, discusses, his major works, and looks at important themes in his novels," 1989, ISBN 0-8264-0443-X)
- Yukio Mishima, Terror and Postmodern Japan by Richard Appignanesi (2002, ISBN 1-84046-371-6)
- Mishima's Sword–Travels in Search of a Samurai Legend by Christopher Ross (2006, ISBN 0-00-713508-4)
- Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is an episodic, stylized 1985 film based on the life and work of the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, directed by Paul Schrader and written by Paul and his brother Leonard Schrader. The film features original music by Philip Glass and performances by the Kronos Quartet...
(1985), a film directed by Paul SchraderPaul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter and film director. His influences include Robert Bresson, Yasujiro Ozu and Carl Dreyer, whose cross-cultural similarities he examined in Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer in 1972...
- Yukio Mishima: Samurai Writer, a BBC documentary on Yukio Mishima, directed by Michael Macintyre, (1985, VHS ISBN 978-1-4213-6981-5, DVD ISBN 978-1-4213-6982-2)
- Yukio Mishima, a play by Adam Darius
Adam Darius is an American dancer, mime artist, writer and choreographer. As a performer, he has appeared in over 80 countries across six continents...
and Kazimir Kolesnik, first performed at Holloway Prison, London, in 1991, and later in Finland, Slovenia and Portugal.
External links