The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima (48 page)

OBĀSAMA
An archaic form of address—like “Okāsama,” the use of which by Mishima amused his contemporaries greatly.

ŌKURASHŌ
The Ministry of Finance, the center of power in the Japanese bureaucracy.

OMIAI
The formal meeting between a young couple not previously acquainted, which is the preliminary to an arranged marriage. Still common in Japan.

ŌMIKOSHI
A portable Shinto shrine.

ONNAGATA
In Kabuki drama, the male actors who take the female roles.

RŌNIN
A masterless samurai; one who has lost his lord.

SAKÉ
Rice wine.

SAMBON SUGI
Marks on the blade of a sword of the type of Mishima's seventeenth-century samurai sword, made by Seki no Magoroku. They are small, and hard to see—a series of smoky, dark semicircles which interlock in a line parallel to the cutting edge of the sword. A connoisseur looks for them in such a sword.

SAMURAI
A privileged warrior class who constituted about five percent of the population of feudal Japan. The expression has little application in modern Japan, outside such contexts as “samurai spirit.”

SENSEI
An honorific expression, used by Tatenokai members when speaking to or of Mishima. Very common in Japan: used by schoolchildren when speaking to their teachers, etc. “Respect” language is crucial in Japan.

SEPPUKU
The Japanese term for hara-kiri, which has an element of awe of the ritual.

SHINJŪ
A double suicide for love, popularized in the seventeenth century by the Kabuki theater. Homosexual shinjū have been rare in history; Takamori Saigo, a nineteenth-century general and hero, attempted it, and succeeded only in drowning his lover.

SHINPUREN INCIDENT
The incident of 1877 on which Mishima modeled his own “Putsch”: an attack by samurai on a modern barracks with swords; repelled with great loss of life. A mass suicide, with a pathological element.

SHUZAI
Collecting information and making notes, a “journalistic” practice used by Mishima when preparing to write a novel; he went to the spot, notebook in hand.

SONNŌ JŌI
Resonant chauvinist slogan: “Revere the Emperor and Expel the Barbarians”—liked by Mishima in certain moods.

SUMI
Black Chinese ink.

SUMO
Wrestling by fat men plumped up on barrels of beer and mountains of rice.

TENUGUI
A hand towel, made of cotton.

TORII
Entrance to a Shinto shrine. Shaped like the Greek letter π.

UYOKU
The violent, extreme right in Japan. Minute in size and eflFective out of all proportion to its size; composed of hundreds of mutually hostile groups, clubs, study societies, some of which have comic names; e.g., the Japan Goblin Party. Linked to the ruling conservative party, and crucial to an understanding of Japan.

YAKUZA
Gangsters; comparable to the Mafia. The yakuza control all entertainment centers in Japan.

YŌMEIGAKU
A neo-Confucian school of thought which came to Japan in the seventeenth century from China, where it played a radical part in the reaction against traditional Confucianism. Still more potent in Japan, in certain ways. Mishima's interest in this philosophy, the best-known tenet of which is: “To know and not to act is not yet to know,” was probably dilettante; nonetheless, he acted on its principle.

YOROIDŌSHI
A straight dagger with a blade one foot long.

ZAIBATSU
The vast industrial-commercial combines which dominated Japan before the war and do so once again, to the peril of the Japanese.

ZENGAKUREN
All Japan Federation of Student Councils. The ultra-left members of the Zengakuren movement caused the student riots of 1967–9, the most violent disturbances in post-war Japan, in which fifteen thousand policemen and an unknown number of students were injured.

ZENKYŌTO
Student council (at a particular university). Mishima had an open debate in May 1969 with the Zenkyōto of Tokyo University.

Chronology

1925

January 14
. Birth of Kimitaké Hiraoka (Yukio Mishima), eldest son of Azusa and Shizué Hiraoka, in Tokyo. The boy is named by his grandfather Jōtarō, at a ceremony one week later, after a friend of the latter, Baron Kimitaké Furuichi. Taken from his mother by his tyrannical grandmother, Natsuko, on his twenty-ninth day. Brought up by his grandmother.

1928

Birth of Mitsuko, Mishima's sister.

1929

Mishima taken severely ill and his life despaired of. The illness is
jikachūdoku
(auto-intoxication), and the boy is enfeebled by this recurrent sickness. He does not recover his health until adulthood.

1930

Birth of Chiyuki, Mishima's younger brother.

1931

Mishima starts at the Gakushūin (Peers School), where he is far from outstanding. The school is the choice of his grandfather Jōtarō.

1937

Enters the middle school at the Gakushūin, at which he is successful academically. Leaves his grandparents, with whom he has been living, and is now under the care of his mother, Shizué. For two years he has been living with his grandparents in a different house from his parents'; a move enables his parents to claim the boy from his jealous grandmother, who is ill and near the end of her life.

1938

Comes to the attention of older boys in the Gakushūin, especially members of the Bungei-bu, the literary club. Despite the differences in age, he is accepted by boys older than he as a companion and friend—on account of his literary gifts. He is a regular contributor to the school magazine,
Hōjinkai Zasshi
, from the time of his arrival in the middle school.

1939

Prospers in his academic work and embarks on an ambitious novel, “Yakata” (Mansion), in which his idea of the “murder theater” is first developed. He does not finish “Yakata”; it is almost the only unfinished work of his life. Death of Natsuko on January 19.

1940

Introduced to RyÅ«ko Kawaji, a well-known romantic poet, by his mother, and writes poems under his guidance. One of these, “Magagoto” (“Evil Things”), contains a hint of the character of all his writing. His favorite authors are Raymond Radiguet and Oscar Wilde.

1941

Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, completes his first long work,
Hanazakari no Mori
(“The Forest in Full Bloom”), which is published by the magazine
Bungei Bunka
through the introduction of a teacher at the Gakushūin, Fumio Shimizu, who takes a special interest in Mishima's work. Takes the nom de plume Yukio Mishima. His writing is highly praised by Zenmei Hasuda, a schoolteacher friend of Shimizu, who becomes an influence on Mishima.

1942

Enters the senior school at the GakushÅ«in, where he has a brilliant career. He publishes patriotic poems in the school magazine, and his taste for the Japanese classics develops. Under the influence of Hasuda and Shimizu, he takes an interest in the Nippon Roman-ha (Japanese Romanticists), a literary movement led by YojÅ«rō Yasuda, an advocate of the “holy war.”

1943

Excels at his books and tries in vain to have
Hanazakari no Mori
published in book form. Meets Yojūrō Yasuda; his enthusiasm for the Nippon Roman-ha is tempered by appreciation of the austere Japanese literary tradition of Ōgai Mori.

1944

Graduates from the Gakushūin at the top of his class and receives an award, a silver watch, from the Emperor; the ceremony is held at the palace, to which he is accompanied by the school principal. In May he passes an army medical, but he is not drafted and starts his studies at Tokyo Imperial University in October. In the same month
Hanazakari no Mori
is published in Tokyo.

1945

Is working at an airplane factory when his draft call comes in February. He takes leave of his parents in Tokyo, who share his belief that they will not see him again and that he will die in the war. He fails his medical—an inexperienced army doctor makes a false diagnosis of incipient tuberculosis (assisted in the error by the sharp-witted Mishima, who gives misleading replies to the doctor's questions). Mishima returns to Tokyo. The war ends in August. Mitsuko dies of typhoid in October.

1946

Is reading law at Tokyo University; attempts to have his short stories published—the first step for an aspiring novelist in Japan. With the help of Yasunari Kawabata, he succeeds in getting a story published (“Tabako”); is disappointed by its reception and buckles down to his law studies.

1947

Obtains a position at the Ōkurashō (Ministry of Finance) in a competitive public examination, and enters the ministry at the end of the year, resolved to continue work on short stories and a novel,
Tozoku
(“Robbers”).

1948

Succeeds in placing his work with literary magazines in Tokyo. In September he resigns from the Ōkurashō, believing that he will be able to support himself by writing. In November he starts
Confessions of a Mask
, an autobiographical novel in which he describes the homosexual and sadomasochistic fantasies of a youth of his generation.

1949

Confessions of a Mask
is published in July and Yukio Mishima is hailed as a rising star in the literary firmament. A first play,
Kataku
(“Fire House”), is performed by a leading theatrical group.

1950

Mishima has a second major novel,
Thirst for Love
, published. It is highly praised by the critics. He moves to a new home in Midorigaoka, a fashionable
suburb of Tokyo, with his parents. Writes his first modern No play,
Kantan
.

1951

Completes
Forbidden Colors
, a controversial novel about homosexual society in Tokyo. In December goes on his first world trip, setting out for America on board the
President Wilson
. Has had to overcome many obstacles to obtain foreign exchange for his travels and is acting as special foreign correspondent for
Asahi Shimbun
, the leading daily newspaper. His father has helped him to obtain the sponsorship of the
Asahi
.

1952

Travels to America, where he discusses translation of
Confessions of a Mask
with his first translator, Meredith Weatherby. He visits Brazil and Europe; the high point of the journey is Greece, which feeds his “classical aspiration.” Returns to Japan in good spirits.

1953

Completes a sequel to
Forbidden Colors
, which is less well viewed by the critics, and resolves to write “classical” works.

1954

Publishes the best seller
The Sound of Waves
. Also writes a play,
Shiro Ari no Su
(“The Nest of the White Ants”), which establishes his reputation as a playwright. The rights to
The Sound of Waves
are sold to Tōhō, the leading film production company in Japan.

1955

Takes up body building and persists with his training despite much physical difficulty. His body-building activities attract public attention, which he welcomes. Pictures of him wielding weights are published.

1956

Writes two of the greatest successes of his career:
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion
, a novel; and
Rokumeikan
, a play. Establishes a connection with the Bungakuza, the leading theatrical company in Japan.
The Sound of Waves
and
Five Modern Nō Plays
are published in America by Alfred A. Knopf; Mishima cultivates good relations with his translators.

1957

Invited to America by Alfred A. Knopf and makes an address at Michigan University. Stays six months in America and spends an unhappy autumn in New York, where he waits in vain for performance of his No plays. He
learns to speak English and sees every play running in New York, where he keeps up body building.

1958

Decides to get married, having been told that his mother has cancer (a false diagnosis). Has an
omiai
(a formal meeting between two people who are contemplating an arranged marriage) with Michiko Shōda, a tennis-playing beauty; their meetings are ended, probably at the behest of the Shōda family, and she becomes engaged to the Crown Prince. Mishima is married to Yōko Sugiyama, twenty-one, daughter of a well-known traditional Japanese painter. Decides to build a modern house for himself and his bride, at great expense; next door he constructs a home for his parents.
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion
and
Confessions of a Mask
are published in America.

1959

Mishima's “anti-Zen” house is completed in May 1959 and Yōko has their first child, Noriko, a girl, the following month. Mishima is working on an ambitious novel,
Kyōko no Ie
(“Kyōko's House”), which he completes in the autumn, and which is judged a failure by the critics. Takes up kendo, Japanese fencing.

1960

Writes
After the Banquet
, a witty novel of political life in Japan. He acts in his first movie,
Karakkaze Yarō
(“A Dry Fellow”), playing the part of a young yakuza, a gangster, and appearing naked with his co-star. The Anpo (U.S.–Japan Security Treaty) riots take place—a turning point in Mishima's life; the riots excite his imagination and stir him to write a short story, “Patriotism,” in which he describes the hara-kiri of a young army officer at remarkable length.

1961

Mishima, who has been traveling overseas with Yōko, visiting New York, returns to Japan to find himself in trouble. A suit for damages has been brought against him on account of
After the Banquet
. Receives threatening phone calls from rightist thugs who threaten to burn down his home and kill him; they object to his praise of a short story, “FÅ«ryu-Mutan,” which they regard as anti-imperialist. Mishima has a police bodyguard for two months. His son Ichirō is born.