Yukio Mishima

Yukio Mishima (三島由紀夫 Mishima Yukio), was the public name of Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡公威 Hiraoka Kimitake), (January 14, 1925 - November 25, 1970), a Japanese author and rightist political activist, notable for both his nihilistic post-war writing and the circumstances of his suicide.

Private life

After Confessions of a Mask Mishima tried to leave behind the young man who had only lived inside his head and had continuously flirted with death. He tried to tie himself to the real, physical world by taking up stringent physical exercise. In 1955 Mishima took up weight lifting and his workout regimen of three sessions per week was not disrupted for the final 15 years of his life. He also became very skillful at Kendo (Japanese swordfighting). However, the swimming and weight lifting only trained his upper body, while his legs stayed thin as before -- and he found it impossible to get his early romanticism out of his system.

Related Topics:
Weight lifting - Kendo - Swimming - Romanticism

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Although he visited gay bars in Japan, Mishima reportedly remained an observer and only had affairs with men when he travelled abroad. After briefly considering an alliance with Michiko Shoda -- she later became the wife of Emperor Akihito of Japan -- he married Yoko Sugiyama in 1958. Over the next three years, the couple had a daughter and a son.

Related Topics:
Michiko Shoda - Emperor Akihito of Japan - Yoko Sugiyama

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In 1967 Mishima enlisted in the Army Self Defense Force (ASDF) and underwent basic training. A year later, he formed the Tatenokai (Shield Society), composed primarily of young patriotic students who studied martial principles and physical discipline and who were trained through the ASDF under Mishima's tutelage.

Related Topics:
Army Self Defense Force - Tatenokai

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In the last ten years of his life, Mishima acted in several movies and co-directed an adaption of one of his stories, Patriotism, the Rite of Love and Death.

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