Who was Yukio Mishima? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Kimitake Hiraoka

Died At Age: 45

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Yoko Sugiyama (m. 1958 – his death. 1970)

father: Azusa Hiraoka

mother: Shizue Hiraoka

siblings: Chiyuki Hiraoka, Mitsuko Hiraoka

children: Iichiro Hiraoka, Noriko Tomita

Bisexual Novelists

Height: 5'4" (163 cm), 5'4" Males

Died on: November 25, 1970

place of death: Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan

Cause of Death: Suicide

More Facts

education: University Of Tokyo

awards: Q11503628

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1

What are the major themes in Yukio Mishima's works?

Yukio Mishima's works often explore themes such as the clash between traditional Japanese values and modernity, the nature of beauty, the concept of death, and the search for personal and national identity.
2

What impact did Yukio Mishima's political beliefs have on his writing?

Yukio Mishima's far-right political beliefs influenced many of his works, as he often explored themes of authoritarianism, nationalism, and the idealization of traditional Japanese culture.
3

How did Yukio Mishima's controversial public actions influence his literary reputation?

Yukio Mishima's highly publicized seppuku (ritual suicide) in 1970 shocked the world and brought attention to his works, leading to a reassessment of his literary legacy and the controversial nature of his art.
4

What is the significance of Yukio Mishima's use of traditional Japanese aesthetics in his writing?

Yukio Mishima often incorporated elements of traditional Japanese aesthetics, such as beauty, honor, and ritual, into his works to explore themes of cultural heritage, identity, and the tension between tradition and modernity.
5

How did Yukio Mishima's personal experiences influence his portrayal of masculinity in his works?

Yukio Mishima's own struggles with masculinity, identity, and the ideal of the "warrior-scholar" influenced his portrayal of male characters in his works, reflecting themes of strength, honor, and self-destruction.

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Childhood & Early Life

Born on January 14, 1925, in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, Yukio Mishima was one of the three children of a government official named Azusa Hiraoka and his wife, Shizue. He had two younger siblings. His sister, Mitsuko, passed away from typhus at the age of 17 in 1945. His brother’s name was Chiyuki.

In the early years of his childhood, Mishima lived with his paternal grandmother, Natsuko (family register name: Natsu) Hiraoka, who took him from his immediate family and kept him with herself for a few years.

Despite marrying a bureaucrat who accumulated his wealth through the newly opened colonial frontier in the north (present-day Russia), Natsuko came from an aristocrat family and strove to maintain certain pretensions associated with the Japanese upper-class life.

Mishima’s upbringing had a profound effect on his literature and political beliefs. Natsuko often suffered violent and morbid outbursts, which were hinted in Mishima’s works.

According to some of his biographers, his grandmother was the reason for his later fascination with death. She did not let him play or socialize with other boys and even kept him away from the sunlight.

At the age of 12, Mishima finally returned to live with his parents. His father decided to raise his children in accordance with military discipline. They were severely punished for any misbehaviour. Azusa regularly went into the young boy’s room to look for any evidence of his love for literature and tore apart if he found any of his manuscripts.

Mishima began his education at the age of six at Gakushūin, the Peers' School in Tokyo, where he learned German, English, and French. He started to write stories when he was 12 years old.

While he was a voracious reader of traditional Japanese stories, he also developed an interest in European literature. His biggest childhood inspiration was poet Michizō Tachihara, whose writings made Mishima appreciate the classical Japanese poetry form of waka. In his early published works, waka poetry features prominently.

Some of Mishima’s teachers at Gakushūin originally came up with his pen name to save him from the ire of his fellow students. His first published short story was ‘Sorrel Flowers—Akihiko's Memory of the Early Childhood’ (1938).

By the time the World War II broke out, Mishima had already published several other short stories. His first completed play, ‘The Journey’, was not published during his lifetime.

Mishima did not have to fight in the war because a young army doctor misdiagnosed him with tuberculosis. He then completed his education, graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1947, and took a job in the finance ministry.

While a career in finance definitely held much promise for him, he wore himself out very quickly. Eventually, his father helped him resign from his post within a year of his employment. He subsequently became a full-time writer.

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Career

Yukio Mishima always had his mother’s support in his pursuit of a writing career. In fact, she was the first person to read his stories. After the war ended, he gradually became a prolific figure in the Japanese literary world.

He authored novels, essays, short stories, and serial novellas. He also wrote several highly acclaimed plays for the Kabuki theatre and modern versions of traditional Noh drama.

In 1948, his first novel, ‘Thieves’ was published. A tale revolving around two young aristocratic men descending towards suicide, the novel earned him a place among the Second Generation of Postwar Writers.

He published ‘Confessions of a Mask’ (1949), which is considered to be a semi-autobiographical account. The protagonist of the story, a young homosexual, has to hide his true character behind a mask to avoid being ostracized by the society.

Over the course of his career, Mishima penned about 50 plays, 25 short story books, 35 essay books, 34 novels, and one libretto. He also wrote the screenplay of a film. Mishima translated several European plays, including Racine's ‘Britannicus’ (1957) and Oscar Wilde’s ‘Salome’ (1960).

Mishima garnered international fame for his writings and had admirers in Europe and North America. The translations of several of his books were available across these continents. He would visit both continents on a regular basis.

Mishima was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature three different times. He came close to winning it in 1968, but the prize was eventually awarded to his countryman and one-time mentor Yasunari Kawabata. Mishima realised that the possibility of another Japanese writer winning the award in recent future was almost non-existent.

Mishima also did some modelling work and acted in a few films. He served as a model in ‘Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses’ by Eikoh Hosoe, ‘Young Samurai: Bodybuilders of Japan,’ and ‘Otoko: Photo Studies of the Young Japanese Male’ by Tamotsu Yatō.

He made his screen debut in the 1951 film ‘Junpaku no Yoru’. In 1960, he appeared in ‘Afraid to Die’, his first film that was released in the United States. He wrote the screenplay, co-directed, and starred in the 1966 short film ‘Patriotism’.

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Major Works

'Haru no Yuki’ (Spring Snow) was the first book of Mishima’s ‘Sea of Fertility’ tetralogy. Released in book form in 1969, ‘Spring Snow’ is considered to be his magnum opus alongside the other three books in the series, ‘Runaway Horses’ (1969), ‘The Temple of Dawn’ (1970), and ‘The Decay of the Angel’ (1971).

The series spans from 1912 to 1975 and is told through the viewpoint of Shigekuni Honda, a law student in the first book and a rich, former judge in the last. Over the course of the series, he comes across several individuals whom he considers to be the reincarnations of his school friend, Kiyoaki Matsugae.

Awards

In 1956, Mishima won the Yomiuri Prize from Yomiuri Newspaper Co., for best novel for ‘The Temple of the Golden Pavilion’. He won the same prize again in 1961 for his drama ‘Toka no Kiku.’

Family & Personal Life

Yukio Mishima and his wife, Yoko Sugiyama, exchanged wedding vows on June 11, 1958, and went on to have two children together, daughter Noriko (born June 2, 1959) and son Iichiro ( May 2, 1962).

The speculation about his sexual orientation persisted throughout his career and even after his death. His widow vehemently denied that he was gay. However, Jiro Fukushima wrote that he and Mishima had a relationship in 1951.

Death & Legacy

In 1968, Mishima established the Tatenokai, a nationalist militia group that had the unusual permission to train with the Japan Self-Defense Forces. On November 25, 1970, he and four other members of Tatenokai got into the Ichigaya Camp, the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and took the commandant hostage.

He subsequently went out to the balcony and gave a speech to the soldiers gathered there, asking them to join the Tatenokai in their coup d'état to restore the emperor to his pre-Word War II powers.

He was unsuccessful in his attempt. The soldiers reacted to his speech by mocking him. He subsequently came back into the commandant’s office and performed seppuku. Much has been speculated about the manner of his death. Many believe that he knew that the coup would fail and it was only a pretext for him to commit ritual suicide.

Facts About Yukio Mishima

Yukio Mishima was not only a prolific writer but also a talented actor, appearing in several films during his lifetime.

Mishima was known for his intense physical fitness regimen, which included weightlifting and martial arts training.

Despite his conservative views, Mishima had a deep appreciation for traditional Japanese arts and culture, often incorporating them into his works.

He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times during his career, demonstrating the high regard in which his writing was held by the literary community.

Mishima was a polyglot, fluent in several languages including English, German, and French, which allowed him to engage with a wide range of literary influences.

Yukio Mishima Biography

You wanted to know

What are the major themes in Yukio Mishima's works?

What impact did Yukio Mishima's political beliefs have on his writing?

How did Yukio Mishima's controversial public actions influence his literary reputation?

What is the significance of Yukio Mishima's use of traditional Japanese aesthetics in his writing?

How did Yukio Mishima's personal experiences influence his portrayal of masculinity in his works?