Photo: Ken Domon / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Yukio Mishima

三島由紀夫　/　不明

Writer from Japan

January 14, 1925 – November 25, 1970　・　Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo
writer
prose writer
novelist

My Take

Yukio Mishima remains, for me, the most unresolvable figure in modern Japanese letters. The prose itself is beyond argument — The Temple of the Golden Pavilion and the Sea of Fertility tetralogy contain sentences of almost frightening precision and beauty. What I keep turning over is how completely he tried to fuse life and art: the bodybuilding, the theatricality, the shocking final act in 1970. I do not romanticize how his story ended, but I cannot deny that no other writer staked everything so absolutely on aesthetics. Reading him is like handling a polished blade — you admire the craftsmanship while staying aware that it can cut.

Overview

Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡公威, Hiraoka Kimitake; 14 January 1925 – 25 November 1970), known by his pen name Yukio Mishima (三島由紀夫, Mishima Yukio), was a Japanese novelist, playwright, short story writer, actor, martial artist, model, and the leader of an attempted coup d'état that culminated in his seppuku. He is considered one of the most important postwar stylists of the Japanese language.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1. Profile

Name (English): Yukio Mishima
Name (Japanese): 三島由紀夫
Reading: 不明
Born: January 14, 1925 – November 25, 1970
Zodiac / Chinese zodiac: Capricorn / Ox
Origin: Tokyo, Japan
Blood type: Private
Height: 163 cm
Agency: Private
Occupation: writer / prose writer / novelist / playwright / screenwriter

2. Background

Elementary school: Private
Junior high: Private
High school: Private
University: University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics

Awards & achievements

1954 Shinchosha literature award
1955 Kishida Theatre Award
1956 Yomiuri Prize
1964 Mainichi art award
1965 ACA National Arts Festival
Golden Arrow Award
star on Playwrights' Sidewalk

3. Relationships

Spouse: Private
Children: Private
Parents: Private
Siblings: Private

4. Personality

Motto

Private

5. Works & records

Category	Title	Role
Notable work	The Temple of the Golden Pavilion	—
Notable work	Confessions of a Mask	—
Notable work	The Sea of Fertility	—
Notable work	The Sound of Waves	—
Notable work	The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea	—
Notable work	Kyōko no Ie	—

6. Links

Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E5%B3%B6%E7%94%B1%E7%B4%80%E5%A4%AB

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