Ko (Yukio) Mishima is a Japanese writer, poet, playwright. Mishima is one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. Yukio's work is characterized by rich speech and decadent metaphors, a fusion of traditional Japanese and modern Western literary styles, and obsessive claims of the unity of beauty, eroticism and death.
early years
Mishima was born in Tokyo's Yotsuya area (now part of Shinjuku). His father, Azusa Hiraoka, is a government official, and his mother, Shizue, was the daughter of the fifth director of the Kaisei Academy. He also had a younger sister, Mitsuko, who died of typhus in 1945 at the age of 17, and a younger brother.
In early childhood, Mishima was looked after by his grandmother Natsuko, who took the child, separating him from her family for several years. Natsuko was prone to violence and painful outbursts, which are sometimes mentioned in Mishima's works. This strict woman did not allow Yukio to go out into the sunlight, play sports or play with other boys; he spent most of his time alone or with his cousins and their dolls.
Mishima returned to his family when he was 12 years old. His father, a man prone to military discipline, searched Mishima's room for evidence of an interest in literature and often tore up the boy's manuscripts. He believed that love for books has no place in the soul of a real man.
Education
At the age of six, Mishima enrolled at the elite Gakushuin School for Teenagers in Tokyo. At the age of twelve, Ko Mishima began writing his first stories. He eagerly read the works of numerous classical Japanese authors, as well as Raymond Radige, Oscar Wilde, Rainer Maria Rilke and other European writers, both translated and original. Yukio studied German, French and English. After six years at school, he became the youngest member of the editorial board of the literary society. Mishima was recruited to the work of the Japanese author Michidze Tachihara, who in turn created an appreciation of the classic Japanese poetry of Waka. Mishima's first published works included the poetry of Waka; he later turned his attention to prose.
During World War II, Mishima was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army. During the medical examination, he caught a cold, and a young army doctor mistakenly diagnosed him with tuberculosis. Yukio was declared unfit for service.
Although his authoritarian father forbade him to write new stories, Mishima continued to pursue his work every night in secret, supported and protected by his mother, who always read a new story first. Ko Mishima graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1947. He was promoted to a clerk in the government's Ministry of Finance. After being persuaded by his mother, his father agreed to his resignation within the first year of work, so that Ko could devote himself entirely to writing.
Literary career
Mishima wrote novels, popular serial novellas, short stories and literary essays, as well as highly regarded Kabuki plays and modern versions of traditional drama. Ko Mishima began the story "A Story at the Cape" in 1945 and continued to work on it until the end of World War II. In January 1946, he visited the famous writer Yasunari Kawabatu in Kamakura, taking his manuscripts with him, and asked for his help and advice. In June 1946, following Kawabata's recommendation, the story was published in the new literary magazine Ningen.
Also in 1946, Mishima began his first novel, Tozoku, a story about two young aristocrats prone to suicide. It was published in 1948, placing Mishima in the ranks of the second generation of post-war writers. The novel was followed by The Mask, a semi-autobiography of a young homosexual who must hide behind a mask to fit into society. The story was hugely successful and made Mishima a celebrity at the age of 24. Around 1949, Mishima published the Kindai Bungaku essay series about Yasunari Kawabata, whom he always held in high regard.
His work has brought him international fame and significant popularity in Europe and the United States, as many of his most famous works have been translated into English. Mishima traveled extensively; in 1952 he visited Greece, which fascinated him since childhood. Elements from his visit appear in Shiosai, which was published in 1954.
