The name Yukio Mishima may not be one you are familiar with. However, in the literary world and in the world of theater the name is quite popular and well known. Yukio Mishima was a young man involved in writing, acting and directing; becoming an author, an actor and playwright where he directed some of the plays that he had written. One popular play is that of Dijoji. As an author, he wrote short stories and naka style poetry, such as Farewell Poems. The poems related to his Japanese background. Because of his writing mission, his talent led him to produce 40 novels and dramas in various styles such as noh drama and kabuki and his essays; not to mention his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize several times for literature. It is therefore his accomplishments that made this man an important Japanese figure in the 20th century, in both the United States and abroad.
Yukio was born on January 14, 1925, in Kimitake Hiraoka, a city near Tokyo, Japan. He was raised by his grandmother who was a very strict guardian. She didn’t want him to participate in sports. Instead of playing with young boys his age, he had to play with his female cousins. Although at an early age he showed an interest in reading books, his father disapproved of this kind of activity for his son, for his father believed that reading was an activity that only females did for enjoyment. His father’s adamant take on the idea of his son reading almost destroyed the future of this reader turned author.
It appears that at birth, Yukio was given the name of Kimitake Hiraoka , named after his place of birth. But, he also had a Buddhist name, which was Shobuin Bunkan Koi Koji. However, when it came to writing and producing reading material, he chose the pen name of Yukio Mishima, which was actually given to him by a school teacher when he was a boy. At that time and as a young student, his writing ability was remarkable and his teacher didn’t want that talent destroyed because of peer pressure or bullying remarks from other children who wouldn’t understand. Even at that time, Yukio was different in more ways than one.
When it comes to Yukio’s style of writing, regardless if it is poetry, an essay, short stories or a play; there was always a strong message that came from the content. That message often reflected the author’s strong beliefs and what he felt in regards to culture, sexuality, death and his political views.
One of the first short stories written and published by this author is a story entitled, The Sound of the Waves, which was published in 1954. It was in 1946 that he actually wrote his first novel and that masterpiece took him two years to complete, the story idea centered on suicide. After it was published in 1948, he became known as one of the second generation of postwar writers . Another novel written by Yukio bears the title of Confessions of a Mask. This storyline is centered on homosexuality and the shame of it in society. Yukio was 24 years old when this book was published. As mentioned before, this author wrote essays and in 1949, he wrote an article on a man whom he admired tremendously, Yasunari Kawabata.
As an actor, Yukio starred in the 1960 film Afraid to Die. Other films that are credited with his talent as an actor are Black Lizard and Hitokiri.
Even though people loved, admired and respected this man as a writer, author and playwright and acknowledged his talents, there were other people in the political realm who despised Yukio. They did not approve of his outspoken views on political unjustness and his dedication and commitment to the way of the samurai. Yukio joined the Japanese military in 1967. His basic training took place at with the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force . However, a year later he took it upon himself to form a private army which he ran and named The Tatenokai Army or the Shield Society. These were young men whose mission was to protect the Emperor at all cost, so they thought. However, Yukio felt that it was his duty to shield and protect all of Japan. This young man’s army was trained in the martial arts. They learned the principals of it and the physical discipline of it. The head trainer was none other than Yukio himself. So, with all his other literary accomplishments, he was a teacher or an instructor in charge of students/soldiers.
Before his death by suicide, another chapter in his life was based around films as a director and a co-director. In this period of his life, he went on to co-direct such films as Patriotism, and The Rites of Love and Math.
Yukio was 45 years old when he died and at that age, death was not bought on by natural causes. It seems that this young man had planned his death a year in advance before it happened. He put everything in place for a seppuku or a ritual suicide. He then followed through with his plans. However, his death did not come by his hands, but by the hands of 4 of his devoted soldiers that were under him in the Tatenokai Army. It was always Yukio’s dream not to die an old man and he made sure that was not going to happen. The day of his death, he gave a speech that he thought would start a coup d’etat, but it backfired. He and his men even went as far as to recite the readings of Jisei or death poems before they performed the customary Kaishakunin to end their life by being beheaded. Yukio’s ritual suicide took place at the headquarters of the Eastern Command of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces as he set out to restore power to the rightful emperor who was no longer in power.
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