Birthday Centric: Mishima

Considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, Yukio Mishima wrote 35 novels, 25 plays, 200 short stories and eight volumes of essays.  He was nominated three times for the Nobel Prize in Literature.  I once said Spring Snow, one of the Sea of Fertility tetralogy, made Romeo and Juliet look like a romantic comedy.


Confessions of a Mask is thought to be auto-biographical.  The narrator struggles with his attraction to men.  The narrator also writes of his attraction to St. Sebastian - an image Mishima himself would replicate.

The film Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters directed by Paul Schrader with a Philip Glass score is a visually beautiful if imperfect film that ties Mishima's life with three of his stories.

John Nathan's book Mishima: A Biography is often considered the definitive account of Mishima's life.

Here's an interview Mishima gave in English.  His writings are readily available at your local bookstores and libraries.