Yukio Mishima

Yukio Mishima, one of the world's greatest authors, was born in 1925 in Tokyo, and his real name was Kimitake Hiraoka. He came from an aristocratic family and was raised with strict discipline, attending the Gakushūin (Peers' School), where he discovered European and classical Japanese literature. While still a student, he published his first collection of short stories, "The Forest in Full Bloom," in 1944, which met with success. At the same time, he enrolled in the Law School of the Imperial University of Tokyo. The events of World War II and his country's defeat deeply affected Mishima, leading him to publish the short stories "Cigarette" and "A Story at the Cape" in 1946. His subsequent works include "Thieves" (1948), "Confessions of a Mask" (1949), "Thirst for Love" (1950), "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" (1950), as well as seventeen novels. He traveled to America and Europe and was influenced by French literature. In 1960, Mishima began his involvement with cinema. Five years later, in 1965, he directed the film "Ritual of Love and Death," and in 1966, he directed a film himself titled "Patriotism," which focused on the theme of seppuku (or hara-kiri, as it is pejoratively known in the West). However, the realm of theater did not escape the restless and creative Mishima. He wrote the play "Madame de Sade" and various other works aiming to revive the traditional Noh theater of his homeland. Despite his ventures into cinema and theater, Mishima's literary output remained prolific. In 1963, "The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea" was published, and in 1966, "Spring Snow," the first volume of his tetralogy "The Sea of Fertility," which was completed in 1970. Deeply influenced by the events of World War II and the humiliating defeat of his country, Mishima underwent military training with the National Guard and formed a personal army of recruited students called the "Shield Society." His mission was the moral, cultural, and political defense of Japan against Americanization. On November 25, 1970, following a failed protest against the Westernization of Japan, Mishima committed suicide along with his lover Morita, faithfully following the traditional technique of seppuku, thus dividing public opinion and overshadowing his work.