Yukio Mishima

Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡 公威, Hiraoka Kimitake, January 14, 1925 – November 25, 1970), known also under the pen name Yukio Mishima[lower-alpha 1] (三島 由紀夫, Mishima Yukio), was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, film director, nationalist, and founder of the Tatenokai. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, but the award went to his countryman and friend Yasunari Kawabata.[5] His works include the novels Confessions of a Mask and The Temple of the Golden Pavilion as well as the autobiographical essay Sun and Steel. Mishima's work is characterized by "its luxurious vocabulary and decadent metaphors, its fusion of traditional Japanese and modern Western literary styles, and its obsessive assertions of the unity of beauty, eroticism and death".[6]

Yukio Mishima
Mishima in 1956
Born	Kimitake Hiraoka (1925-01-14)January 14, 1925 Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
Died	November 25, 1970(1970-11-25) (aged 45) Ichigaya, Tokyo, Japan
Cause of death	Suicide by seppuku
Resting place	Tama Cemetery
Alma mater	University of Tokyo
Occupation	Novelist playwright poet short-story writer essayist critic
Japanese name
Kanji	三島 由紀夫
Hiragana	みしま ゆきお
Katakana	ミシマ ユキオ
Transcriptions Romanization Mishima Yukio
Japanese name
Kanji	平岡 公威
Hiragana	ひらおか きみたけ
Katakana	ヒラオカ キミタケ
Transcriptions Romanization Hiraoka Kimitake
Signature

Mishima's personal life was controversial, and he remains a controversial figure in modern Japan.[7][8][9][10] Ideologically a right-wing nationalist who opposed the westernization of Japan, Mishima formed the Tatenokai, an unarmed civilian militia, for the avowed purpose of restoring power to the Japanese Emperor. On November 25, 1970, Mishima and four members of his militia entered a military base in central Tokyo, took the commandant hostage, and attempted to inspire the Japan Self-Defense Forces to overturn Japan's 1947 Constitution. When this was unsuccessful, Mishima committed seppuku.

Life and work

Early life

Mishima in his childhood (c. April 1931)

Mishima was born in the Yotsuya district of Tokyo (now part of Shinjuku). His father was "Azusa Hiraoka" (平岡梓), a government official, and his mother, "Shizue" (倭文重), was the daughter of the 5th principal of the Kaisei Academy. Shizue's father, "Kenzō Hashi" (橋健三), was a scholar of Chinese classics, and the Hashi family had served the Maeda clan for generations in Kaga Domain. Mishima's paternal grandparents were "Sadatarō Hiraoka" (平岡定太郎) and "Natsuko" (なつ) (family register name: Natsu). He had a younger sister, "Mitsuko" (美津子), who died of typhus in 1945 at the age of 17, and a younger brother, "Chiyuki" (千之).[11]

Mishima's early childhood was dominated by the presence of his grandmother, Natsuko(Natsu), who took the boy, separating him from his immediate family for several years.[12] Natsuko was the granddaughter of "Matsudaira Yoritaka" (松平頼位), the daimyō of Shishido in Hitachi Province, and had been raised in the household of Prince Arisugawa Taruhito; she maintained considerable aristocratic pretensions even after marrying Sadatarō Hiraoka(Mishima's grandfather), a bureaucrat who had made his fortune in the newly opened colonial frontier in the north and who eventually became Governor-General of Karafuto Prefecture on Sakhalin Island. Through his grandmother, Mishima was a direct descendant of Tokugawa Ieyasu.[13] Natsuko was prone to violence and morbid outbursts, which are occasionally alluded to in Mishima's works.[14] It is to Natsuko that some biographers have traced Mishima's fascination with death.[15] Natsuko did not allow Mishima to venture into the sunlight, to engage in any kind of sport or to play with other boys; he spent much of his time alone or with female cousins and their dolls.[14]

Mishima returned to his immediate family when he was 12. His father was a man with a taste for military discipline, and employed parenting tactics such 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 apart the son's manuscripts.[16]

Schooling and early works

At the age of six, Mishima enrolled in the elite Gakushūin, the Peers' School in Tokyo.[17] At twelve, Mishima began to write his first stories. He voraciously read the works of numerous classic Japanese authors as well as Raymond Radiguet, Oscar Wilde, Rainer Maria Rilke, Thomas Mann and other European authors, in translation. He studied German. After six years at school, he became the youngest member of the editorial board of its literary society. Mishima was attracted to the works of the Japanese author "Shizuo Itō" (伊東静雄), "Haruo Satō" (佐藤春夫), "Michizō Tachihara" (立原道造), which in turn created an appreciation for the classical Japanese poetry form of waka. Mishima's first published works included waka poetry before he turned his attention to prose.

He was invited to write a short story for the Gakushūin literary magazine "Hojinkai-zasshi" (輔仁会雑誌) and submitted Hanazakari no Mori (花ざかりの森, "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 that they recommended the story to the prestigious literary magazine Bungei-Bunka (文藝文化), which belongs to "Nihon Roman-ha" (日本浪曼派, "Japanese Romantic School"). The story makes use of the metaphors and aphorisms that later became his trademarks and was published in book form in 1944 in a limited edition (4,000 copies) because of the wartime shortage of paper. To protect him from a possible backlash from his father Azusa, his teacher and Bungei-Bunka’s members(Fumio Shimizu (清水文雄), Zenmei Hasuda (蓮田善明), etc.) coined the pen-name "Yukio Mishima". [18]

Mishima's story Tabako (煙草, "The Cigarette"), published in 1946, describes some of a pale love he felt at school when he teased from members of the school's rugby union club that he belonged to the literary society. And also, Shi o Kaku Shōnen (詩を書く少年, "The Boy Who Wrote Poetry") in 1954 is one of the short story based on school memories.

Mishima received a draft notice for the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, and he passed the test second class(barely passed) on 27th April 1944. But, at the time of his medical check up in the convocation day of 10th February 1945, he had a cold, and the young army doctor heard rales from the lung which was misdiagnosed as tuberculosis; Mishima was declared unfit for service.[19][16]

Although his authoritarian father had forbidden him to write any further stories, Mishima continued to write every night in secret, 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 Tokyo 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 the position during the first year of employment to devote himself to writing.[16]

Post-war literature

Mishima wrote novels, popular serial novellas, short stories and literary essays, as well as highly acclaimed plays for the Kabuki theatre and modern versions of traditional Noh drama. Kemono no Tawamure (獣の戯れ, The Frolic of the Beasts) is considered a parody of the classical Noh play Motomezuka, written in the fourteenth century by the playwright Kiyotsugu Kan'ami. 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 II. In January 1946, he visited famed writer Yasunari Kawabata in Kamakura, 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, following Kawabata's recommendations, Tabako (煙草, "The Cigarette") 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 Kamen no Kokuhaku (仮面の告白, Confessions of a Mask), a semi-autobiographical account of a young homosexual who must hide behind a mask to fit into society. The novel was extremely successful and made Mishima a celebrity at the age of 24. Around 1949, Mishima published an essay about Yasunari Kawabata in Kindai Bungaku (近代文学), for whom he had always had a deep appreciation.

His writing gained him international celebrity and a sizeable following in Europe and the United States, as many of his most famous works were translated into English. Mishima traveled extensively; in 1952 he visited Greece, 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 drew inspiration from the Greek legend of Daphnis and Chloe.

Mishima made use of contemporary events in many of his works. Kinkakuji (金閣寺, "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion") published in 1956 is a fictionalization of the burning of the famous temple in Kyoto. Utage noo ato (宴のあと, "After the Banquet"), published in 1960, so closely followed the events surrounding politician Hachirō Arita's campaign to become governor of Tokyo that Mishima was sued for invasion of privacy.[20] In 1962, Mishima's most avant-garde work, Utsukusii hoshi (美しい星, "A Beautiful Star"), which at times comes close to science fiction, was published to mixed critical response.

Mishima was considered for the Nobel Prize for Literature three times[21] and was a favourite of many foreign publications.[22] 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.[23] In a work published in 1970, Mishima wrote that the writers he paid most attention to in modern western literature were Georges Bataille, Pierre Klossowski, and Witold Gombrowicz.[24]

Acting and modelling

Mishima was also an actor, and had a starring role in Yasuzo Masumura's 1960 film, Karakkaze yaro (からっ風野郎, "Afraid to Die"). He also had roles in films including Yukoku (憂国, "Patriotism, the Rite of Love and Death") (directed by himself, 1966), Kurotokage (黒蜥蜴, "Black Lizard") (directed by Kinji Fukasaku, 1968) and Hitokiri (人斬り, "Hitokiri") (directed by Hideo Gosha, 1969). He also sang the theme song for Afraid to Die (lyrics by himself; music by Shichirō Fukazawa).

Mishima was featured as a photo model in Bara-kei (薔薇刑, "Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses") by Eikoh Hosoe, as well as in Nihon no bodybuilder tachi (体道～日本のボディビルダーたち, "Young Samurai: Bodybuilders of Japan") and Otoko (男, "Otoko: Photo Studies of the Young Japanese Male") by Tamotsu Yatō. American author Donald Richie gave a short lively account of Mishima, dressed in a loincloth and armed with a sword, posing in the snow for one of Tamotsu Yato's photoshoots.[25]

Private life

Yukio Mishima (lower) with Shintaro Ishihara in 1956

In 1955, Mishima took up weight training 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 Steel,[26] Mishima deplored the emphasis given by intellectuals to the mind over the body. Mishima later also became very skilled at kendo, traditional Japanese swordsmanship.

After briefly considering a marital alliance with Michiko Shōda (who later married Crown Prince Akihito and became Empress Emerita Michiko),[27] Mishima married Yoko Sugiyama (瑤子)(daughter of Yasushi Sugiyama (杉山寧)) on June 11, 1958. The couple had two children: a daughter named Noriko (紀子) (born June 2, 1959) and a son named Iichiro (威一郎) (born May 2, 1962).

While working on Kinjiki (禁色, "Forbidden Colors"), Mishima visited gay bars in Japan.[28] Mishima's sexual orientation was an issue that bothered his widow, and she always denied his homosexuality after his death.[29] In 1998, the writer Jiro Fukushima published an account of his relationship with Mishima in 1951, including fifteen letters between himself and the famed novelist. Mishima's children successfully sued Fukushima for violation of his letters copyright.[30]

In 1967, Mishima enlisted in the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) and underwent basic training. A year later, he formed the Tatenokai ("shield society"), a private militia composed primarily of young students who studied martial principles and physical discipline, and swore to protect the Emperor of Japan. 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 (英霊の聲, "The Voices of the Heroic Dead"), Mishima denounced Emperor Hirohito for renouncing his claim of divinity after World War II, arguing that millions of Japanese had died in the war for their "living god" Emperor, and that the Showa Emperor's renouncing his divinity meant that all those deaths were in vain.[31]

In the final ten years of his life, Mishima wrote several full-length plays, acted in several films, and co-directed an adaptation of one of his stories, Patriotism, the Rite of Love and Death. He also continued work on his final tetralogy, Hōjō no Umi (豊饒の海, "The Sea of Fertility"), which appeared in monthly serialized format from September 1965.[32]

Mishima espoused a very individual brand of nationalism towards the end of his life. He was hated by leftists, in particular for his outspoken commitment to bushido, the code of the samurai, 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 loss of life in the war.

Coup attempt and ritual suicide

Mishima delivering his speech in the failed coup attempt just prior to performing seppuku (November 25, 1970)

On November 25, 1970, Mishima and four members of the Tatenokai (楯の会, "Shield Society"), under pretext, visited the commandant of the Ichigaya Camp, the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of the Japan Self-Defense Forces.[29] Inside, they barricaded the office and tied the commandant to his chair. With a prepared manifesto and a banner listing their demands, Mishima stepped onto the balcony to address the soldiers gathered below. His speech was intended to inspire a coup d'état to restore the power of the emperor. He succeeded only in irritating the soldiers, and was mocked and jeered. He finished his planned speech after a few minutes, returned to the commandant's office and performed seppuku. The assisting kaishakunin duty at the end of this ritual (to decapitate Mishima) had been assigned to Tatenokai member Masakatsu Morita, who was unable to properly perform the task. After three failed attempts at severing Mishima's head, he allowed another Tatenokai member, Hiroyasu Koga, to behead Mishima. Morita then knelt and stabbed himself in the abdomen and Koga again performed the kaishakunin duty.[33] This coup is called "Mishima jiken" (三島事件, "Mishima Incident") in Japan.

Another traditional element of the suicide ritual was the composition of so-called death poems before their entry into the headquarters.[34] 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 John Nathan, suggests that the coup attempt was only a pretext for the ritual suicide of which Mishima had long dreamed.[35] Mishima made sure his affairs were in order and left money for the legal defence of the three surviving Tatenokai members.

Legacy

Much speculation has surrounded Mishima's suicide. At the time of his death he had just completed the final book in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy.[29] He was recognized as one of the most important post-war stylists of the Japanese language. Mishima wrote 34 novels, about 50 plays, about 25 books of short stories, and at least 35 books of essays, one libretto, as well as one film.

Grave of Yukio Mishima in Tama Cemetery. The inscription reads, "Grave of Hiraoka family"

Mishima's grave is located at the Tama Cemetery in Fuchū, Tokyo. The Mishima Prize was established in 1988 to honor his life and works. On July 3, 1999, "Mishima Yukio Bungaku-kan" (三島由紀夫文学館, "Mishima Yukio Literary Museum") was opened in Yamanakako.

On November 25th, the Memorial service Deathday of Misima, called "Yukoku-ki" (憂国忌) has been held every year in Japan.

A 1985 biographical film by Paul Schrader titled Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters depicts his life and work; however, it has never been given a theatrical presentation in Japan. A 2012 film titled 11:25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate also looks at Mishima's last day.

In 2014, Mishima was one of the inaugural honourees in the Rainbow Honor Walk, a walk of fame in San Francisco's Castro neighbourhood noting LGBTQ people who have "made significant contributions in their fields."[36][37][38]

David Bowie painted a large expressionist portrait of Mishima, which he hung at his Berlin residence.[39]

Awards

• Shincho Prize from Shinchosha Publishing, 1954, for The Sound of Waves
• Kishida Prize for Drama from Shinchosha Publishing, 1955 for Shiroari no Su (白蟻の巣, "Termites' nest")
• Yomiuri Prize from Yomiuri Newspaper Co., for best novel, 1956, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion[40]
• Shuukan Yomiuri Prize for Shingeki from Yomiuri Newspaper Co., 1958, for Bara to Kaizoku (薔薇と海賊, "Rose and Pirate")
• Yomiuri Prize from Yomiuri Newspaper Co., for best drama, 1961, Toka no Kiku (十日の菊, "The chrysanthemum on the tenth", "The day after the fair")
• One of six finalists for the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1963.[41]
• Mainichi Art Prize from Mainichi Shimbun, 1964, for Silk and Insight
• Art Festival Prize from Ministry of Education, 1965, for Madame de Sade

Major works

Literature

Main article: Yukio Mishima bibliography

Japanese title	English title	Year	English translation, year	ISBN
假面の告白 （仮面の告白） Kamen no Kokuhaku	Confessions of a Mask	1949	Meredith Weatherby, 1958, Peter Owen Publishers, reissue due December 2017.	0-8112-0118-X
愛の渇き Ai no Kawaki	Thirst for Love	1950	Alfred H. Marks, 1969	4-10-105003-1
禁色 Kinjiki	Forbidden Colors	1951–1953	Alfred H. Marks, 1968–1974	0-375-70516-3
潮騷 Shiosai	The Sound of Waves	1954	Meredith Weatherby, 1956	0-679-75268-4
金閣寺 Kinkaku-ji	The Temple of the Golden Pavilion	1956	Ivan Morris, 1959	0-679-75270-6
鏡子の家 Kyōko no Ie	Kyoko's House	1959
宴のあと Utage no Ato	After the Banquet	1960	Donald Keene, 1963	0-399-50486-9
黒蜥蜴 Kuro Tokage (play)	The Black Lizard	1961	Mark Oshima, 2007	1-929280-43-2
獣の戯れ Kemono no Tawamure (novel)	The Frolic of the Beasts	1961	Andrew Clare, 2018	978-0525434153
スタア "Sutā" (short story)	Star (novella)	1960[42]	Sam Bett, 2019	978-0811228428
午後の曳航 Gogo no Eikō	The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea	1963	John Nathan, 1965	0-679-75015-0
肉体の学校 Nikutai no Gakkō	The School of Flesh	1963
絹と明察 Kinu to Meisatsu	Silk and Insight	1964	Hiroaki Sato, 1998	0-7656-0299-7
三熊野詣 Mikumano Mōde (short story)	Acts of Worship	1965	John Bester, 1995	0-87011-824-2
サド侯爵夫人 Sado Kōshaku Fujin (play)	Madame de Sade	1965	Donald Keene, 1967	0-394-17304-X
憂國（憂国） Yūkoku (short story)	"Patriotism"	1960	Geoffrey W. Sargent, 1966	0-8112-1312-9
真夏の死 Manatsu no Shi (short story)	Death in Midsummer and other stories	1953	Edward G. Seidensticker, Ivan Morris, Donald Keene, Geoffrey W. Sargent, 1966	0-8112-0117-1
鹿鳴館 Rokumeikan (play)	Rokumeikan	1956	Hiroaki Sato, 2002	0-231-12633-6
葉隠入門 Hagakure Nyūmon	Way of the Samurai	1967	Kathryn Sparling, 1977	0-465-09089-3
朱雀家の滅亡 Suzaku-ke no Metsubō (play)	The Decline and Fall of The Suzaku	1967	Hiroaki Sato, 2002	0-231-12633-6
わが友ヒットラー Waga Tomo Hittorā (play)	My Friend Hitler and Other Plays	1968	Hiroaki Sato, 2002	0-231-12633-6
命売ります Inochi Urimasu	Life for Sale	1968	Stephen Dodd, 2019	978-0241333143 (Penguin Classic UK)
癩王のテラス Raiō no Terasu (play)	The Terrace of The Leper King	1969	Hiroaki Sato, 2002	0-231-12633-6
太陽と鐡 （太陽と鉄） Taiyō to Tetsu	Sun and Steel	1968	John Bester	4-7700-2903-9
豐饒の海 （豊饒の海） Hōjō no Umi	The Sea of Fertility tetralogy:	1965–1970		0-677-14960-3
I. 春の雪 　　Haru no Yuki	1. Spring Snow	1969	Michael Gallagher, 1972	0-394-44239-3
II. 奔馬 　　Honba	2. Runaway Horses	1969	Michael Gallagher, 1973	0-394-46618-7
III. 曉の寺 　　Akatsuki no Tera	3. The Temple of Dawn	1970	E. Dale Saunders and Cecilia S. Seigle, 1973	0-394-46614-4
IV. 天人五衰 　　Tennin Gosui	4. The Decay of the Angel	1971	Edward Seidensticker, 1974	0-394-46613-6

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 and Kabuki (as a proud Tokyoite, he would not even attend the Bunraku puppet theatre, always associated with Osaka and the provinces).[43]

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 Keene 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	The Magic Pillow	Noh
1951	綾の鼓 Aya no Tsuzumi	The Damask Drum	Noh
1952	卒塔婆小町 Sotoba Komachi	Komachi at the Gravepost	Noh
1954	葵の上 Aoi no Ue	The Lady Aoi	Noh
1954	鰯賣戀曳網 (鰯売恋曳網) Iwashi Uri Koi Hikiami	The Sardine Seller's Net of Love	Kabuki
1955	芙蓉露大内実記 Fuyō no Tsuyu Ōuchi Jikki	The Blush on the White Hibiscus Blossom: Lady Fuyo and the True Account of the Ōuchi Clan	Kabuki
1955	班女 Hanjo		Noh
1957	道成寺 Dōjōji	Dōjōji Temple	Noh
1959	熊野 Yuya		Noh
1960	弱法師 Yoroboshi	The Blind Young Man	Noh
1969	椿説弓張月 Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki	A Wonder Tale: The Moonbow or Half Moon (like a Bow and arrow setting up): The Adventures of Tametomo	Kabuki

Films

Year	Title	United States release title(s)	Character	Director
1951	純白の夜 Jumpaku no Yoru	Unreleased in the U.S.	an extra (dance party scene)	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
1966	憂国 Yūkoku	The Rite of Love and Death Patriotism	Shinji Takeyama	Yukio Mishima, Domoto Masaki (sub)
1968	黒蜥蝪 Kurotokage	Black Lizard	Human Statue	Kinji Fukasaku
1969	人斬り Hitokiri	Tenchu!	Shimbei Tanaka	Hideo Gosha

Works about Mishima

• Mishima, Aesthetic Terrorist: An Intellectual Portrait by Andrew Rankin (University of Hawaii Press, 2018, ISBN 0824873742)
• 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 (University of Hawaii Press, 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 (Boston, Little, Brown and Company 1974, ISBN 0-316-59844-5)
• Mishima ou la vision du vide (Mishima : A Vision of the Void), essay by Marguerite Yourcenar trans. by Alberto Manguel 2001 ISBN 0-226-96532-5)
• Rogue Messiahs: Tales of Self-Proclaimed Saviors by Colin Wilson (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 (London : Owen, 1975 ISBN 0-7206-0123-1)
• The Madness and Perversion of Yukio Mishima by Jerry S. Piven. (Westport, Connecticut, Praeger Publishers, 2004 ISBN 0-275-97985-7)
• Teito Monogatari (vol. 5–10) by Hiroshi Aramata (a historical fantasy novel featuring Mishima as a protagonist), (Kadokawa Shoten ISBN/ASIN 4041690056)
• Yukio Mishima by Peter Wolfe ("reviews Mishima's life and times, discusses, his major works, and looks at important themes in his novels," 1989, ISBN 0-8264-0443-X)
• "Portrait of the Author as a Historian" by Alexander Lee – an analysis of the central political and social threads in Mishima's novels (pages 54–55 "History Today" April 2017)
• 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)
• Yukio Mishima's Report to the Emperor by Richard Appignanesi (2003, ISBN 978-0-9540476-6-5)
• Reflections on the Death Of Mishima by Henry Miller (1972, ISBN 0-912264-38-1)
• Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), a film directed by Paul Schrader
• The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima (1985) BBC documentary directed by Michael Macintyre
• 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 and Kazimir Kolesnik, first performed at Holloway Prison, London, in 1991, and later in Finland, Slovenia and Portugal.
• String Quartet No.3, "Mishima", by Philip Glass. A reworking of parts of his soundtrack for the film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters it has a duration of 18 minutes.
• 11·25 jiketsu no hi: Mishima Yukio to wakamonotachi (2012), a film directed by Kōji Wakamatsu
• Death and Night and Blood (Yukio), a song by the Stranglers from the Black and White album (1978) (Death and Night and Blood is the phrase from Mishima's novel Confessions of a Mask)[44]
• Forbidden Colours, a song on Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto with lyrics by David Sylvian (1983). (Inspired by Mishima's novel Forbidden Colors)[45]
• Persona: A Biography of Yukio Mishima by Naoki Inose with Hiroaki Sato (Berkeley, Stone Bridge Press, 2012, ISBN 978-1-61172-008-2)
• Biografia Ilustrada de Mishima by Mario Bellatin (Argentina, Editorian Entropia, 2009, ISBN 978-987-24797-6-3)
• Mishima Yukio vs University of Tokyo Zenkyoto members: a truth of 50th year (三島由紀夫vs東大全共闘〜50年目の真実〜) (2020), a documentary film directed by Keiisuke Toyoshima (豊島圭介)[46]

See also

• Kosaburo Eto
• Mishima Yukio Prize

Notes

1. Pronunciation: UK: /ˈmɪʃɪmə/, US: /-mɑː, ˈmiːʃimɑː, mɪˈʃiːmə/,[1][2][3][4] Japanese: [miɕima].

References

1. "Mishima". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
2. "Mishima, Yukio". Lexico Dictionaries. Retrieved 2020-01-08. (US) and {{Cite Oxford Dictionaries|Mishima, Yukio|accessdate=June 1, 2019}}
3. "Mishima". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
4. "Mishima". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
5. Mccarthy, Paul (2013-05-05). "Revealing the many masks of Mishima". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
6. Rankin, Andrew (2018). Mishima, Aesthetic Terrorist: An Intellectual Portrait. University of Hawaii Press. p. 119.
7. Belsky, Beryl. "Yukio Mishima: The Turbulent Life Of A Conflicted Martyr". Culture Trip.
8. "Yukio Mishima – 'The Lost Samurai'". Japan Today.
9. Flanagan, Damian (November 21, 2015). "Yukio Mishima's enduring, unexpected influence". The Japan Times.
10. "Everyone in Japan Has Heard of Him". archive.nytimes.com.
11. Inose, Naoki; Sato, Hiroaki (2012). Persona : A Biography of Yukio Mishima. Berkeley CA: Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-61172-524-7. OCLC 826479168.
12. Liukkonen, Petri. "Yukio Mishima". Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi). Finland: Kuusankoski Public Library. Archived from the original on October 10, 2004.
13. "水戸支流松平氏（宍戸藩・御連枝） － Reichsarchiv ～世界帝王事典～". reichsarchiv.jp.
14. "Mishima, Yukio (1925-1970)". Archived from the original on February 21, 2015.
15. "Yukio Mishima (January 14, 1925 – November 25, 1970". Archived from the original on November 21, 2008.
16. Hiraoka, Azusa (1996). 伜・三島由紀夫 [My son: Yukio Mishima] (in Japanese) (Paperback ed.). Bungeishunjū. ISBN 978-4167162047. First edition published on May 1972.
17. • "Guide to Yamanakako Forest Park of Literature(Mishima Yukio Literary Museum)". Retrieved October 20, 2009.
    • "三島由紀夫の年譜". Retrieved October 20, 2009.
18. Shimizu, Fumio (1975). 「花ざかりの森」をめぐって [Over the Hanazakari no Mori] (in Japanese). Shinchosha In ’’Yukio Mishima complete works No.1’’ appendix. Unknown parameter |naid= ignored (help)
19. Mishima, Yukio (1957). わが思春期 [My Puberty] (in Japanese). Myōjō, Shueisha.
20. Cooper-Chen, Anne; Kodama, Miiko (1997). Mass communication in Japan. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-8138-2710-0. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
21. "Nomination Database: Yukio Mishima". Nobel prize. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
22. Flanagan, Damian. "Mishima, Murakami and the elusive Nobel Prize". Japan Times. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
23. McCarthy, Paul. "Revealing the many masks of Mishima". Japan Times. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
24. Mishima, Yukio; 2=Bataille, Georges (1995). My Mother/Madame Edwarda/The Dead Man. London: Marion Boyars. pp. 4, 11. ISBN 0-7145-3004-2.
25. Richie, Donald (2005). The Japan journals : 1947-2004. Berkeley, Calif.: Stone Bridge. pp. 148–149. ISBN 978-0-89346-984-9. OCLC 773692477.
26. "Inside The Soviet KGB's Secret War On Western Books". RadioFreeEurope RadioLiberty. April 21, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
27. Sheridan, Michael (March 27, 2005). "Briton let author commit hara kiri". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
28. Scott-Stokes, Henry (2000) [1974]. The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima (1st Cooper Square Press ed.). New York: Cooper Square Press. p. 130. ISBN 0-8154-1074-3. OCLC 44313407.
29. Kakutani, Michiko (September 15, 1985). "Mishima: Film Examines an Affair with Death". The New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
30. Sato, Hiroaki (December 29, 2008). "Suppressing more than free speech". The View from New York. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
31. "Mishima's Negative Political Theology". www.libraryofsocialscience.com. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
32. Flanagan, Damian (2015-08-22). "Descending to the depths of Yukio Mishima's 'Sea of Fertility'". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
33. "Japanese Stunned by Samurai-Style Suicide of Novelist Mishima". Chicago Tribune. November 26, 1970. p. 88. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
34. Keene, Donald (1988). The Pleasures of Japanese Literature. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 62. ISBN 0-231-06736-4. OCLC 18068964.
35. Nathan, John. Mishima: A biography, Little Brown and Company: Boston/Toronto, 1974.
36. Shelter, Scott (March 14, 2016). "The Rainbow Honor Walk: San Francisco's LGBT Walk of Fame". Quirky Travel Guy. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
37. "Castro's Rainbow Honor Walk Dedicated Today: SFist". SFist – San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, & Sports. September 2, 2014. Archived from the original on August 10, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
38. Carnivele, Gary (July 2, 2016). "Second LGBT Honorees Selected for San Francisco's Rainbow Honor Walk". We The People. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
39. "Mishima and Bowie". Manwithoutquotes. January 8, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
40. "読売文学賞" [Yomiuri Prize for Literature]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved September 26, 2018.
41. "Candidates for the 1963 Nobel Prize in Literature". Nobel Prize. 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
42. Gattig, Nicolas (April 27, 2019). "Yukio Mishima's attempt at personal branding comes to light in the rediscovered 'Star'". The Japan Times. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
43. Keene, Donald (2008). Chronicles of My Life: An American in the Heart of Japan. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-231-14440-7. OCLC 173299185.
44. "web-magazine GYAN GYAN". matsuzack.jougennotuki.com.
45. Yamashita, Kunihiko (1991). 坂本龍一・全仕事 [Ryuichi Sakamoto Complete Works] (in Japanese). Ohta Shuppan.
46. Hadfield, James (2020-03-26). "'Mishima: The Last Debate': Careful revival of a battle of wits". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2020-06-26.

External links

• 三島由紀夫文学館 The Mishima Yukio Literary Museum website In Japanese only, with the exception of one page (see "English Guide" at top right)
• 山中湖文学の森公園「三島由紀夫文学館」Yamanakako Forest Park of Literature "Mishima Yukio Literary Museum"
• Yukio Mishima: A 20th Century Samurai at the Wayback Machine (archived October 27, 2009)
• Petri Liukkonen. "Yukio Mishima". Books and Writers
• Mishima chronology, with links
• YUKIO MISHIMA: The Harmony of Pen and Sword, a ceremony commemorating his 70th birthday
• Mishima is interviewed in English on a range of subjects on YouTube, from a 1980s BBC documentary (9:02)
• Mishima is interviewed in English about Japanese nationalism on YouTube, from Canadian Television (3:59)
• Headless God: A Tribute to Yukio Mishima Mishima-related news, quotes, links
• Yukio Mishima’s attempt at personal branding comes to light in the rediscovered 'Star', Nicolas Gattig, The Japan Times (April 27, 2019)