THE RELEVANT QUEER: Yukio Mishima, Author, Actor and Failed Coup Leader, Born January 14, 1925

“Nobody even imagines how well one can lie about the state of one’s own heart.”

TRQ: Yukio Mishima, Born January 14, 1925

Author, actor and model Yukio Mishima, considered to be one of Japan’s most important writers, was born on January 14, 1925. Mishima has a controversial reputation in Japan, as a prolific writer combining Japanese and Western literary styles who later formed a civilian militia. His writing focused on beauty and death and brought him acclaim in the West. Over time, Mishima increasingly reacted against Japan’s turn towards democracy and globalism. His efforts culminated in a failed attempt to overthrow Japan’s government. 

Yukio Mishima is the pen name of Kimitake Hiraoka, who was born in Tokyo to an aristocratic family of government and military officials. He attended the exclusive Peers School, where he learned languages and engaging with European culture. Under the overbearing watch of his grandmother, Mishima spent much of his childhood with his female cousins, forbidden to play sports. 

After Mishima reached age 12, his father counterbalanced the grandmother’s influence with military-like discipline. He sought to erase any feminine influence on his son and forbid Mishima’s interest in literature or writing. His mother, on the other hand, secretly supported her son’s writing and was the first to read his work. Scholars suggest these childhood experiences influenced Mishima’s writing. 

As a teen, he adopted his pen name for his first professional writing experience. “Yukio” translates to snow, which he saw from the train after departing from Mishima Station, the basis for his second name. The name protected his identity after Hojinkai-zasshi, the prestigious literary magazine, published his autobiographical short story based on his being bullied at school. 

Mishima failed to qualify for military service during World War II. He went to work in a factory, instead. After the war, he studied law at the University of Tokyo and graduated in 1947. 

Mishima worked at the Japanese Ministry of Finance in 1948 but his first two novels, Tōzoku (“Thieves”) and Kamen no Kokuhaku (“Confessions of a Mask) followed in 1948 and 1949. 

Kamen no Kokuhaku is an autobiographical novel relating the experiences of a gay man who must conceal his sexual preference from those around him. Mishima earned enough praise for his this novel he could start writing full time. 

Many of Mishima’s novels feature characters tortured by problems, unattainable ideals and the impossibility of happiness. Throughout his writing career, he wrote almost 150 novels, plays and books of short stories and essays. 

“All I desire is beauty.” — Yukio Mishima 

Mishima was also an actor and model. He appeared in his first film in 1951. He appeared in six films, and several books on men’s fashion and Japanese style. In 1958, he married the daughter of a painter and they had two children. In the 1960s, the Japanese media named Mishima as their first sūpāsutā (“superstar”). 

Dedicated to the practice of martial arts and samurai code, Mishima grew frustrated with the culture of post-war Japan. He formed the aristocratic Tatenokai (“Shield Society”) to protect the Japanese essence. “We watched Japan become drunk on prosperity,” he once explained, “and fall into an emptiness of the spirit.” 

On November 25, 1970, Mishima lead four members of his organisation in storming a military base and took a commandant hostage. When his attempt to overthrow the Japanese government and constitution failed, he committed seppuku, suicide through disembowelment. He is buried in Tokyo. 

Three times Mishima was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The biographical film, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters was released in 1985. In 1988, the Mishima Yukio Prize for literature was created in his honour. The Mishima Yukio Literary Museum opened in Japan in 1999. 

About the Authors:

Troy Wise is currently a PhD student at UAL Central St Martins and teaches fashion and graphic design at London College of Contemporary Arts. His background is in marketing and he is founder and co-editor of Image Amplified. He lives in, and is continually fascinated by, the city of London.

Rick Guzman earned his most recent MA at UAL Central St Martins in Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries. He currently holds two MA’s and an MBA in the New Media, Journalism and International Business fields. Co-editor at Image Amplified since its start, he lives in London, is fascinated by history and is motivated by continuing to learn and explore.

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Sources:

LGBT History Month

Britannica

NY Times

BBC