The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima

by Henry Scott Stokes

Overview

Novelist, playwright, film actor, martial artist, and political commentator, Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) was arguably the most famous person in Japan at the time of his death. Henry Scott Stokes, one of Mishima's closest friends, was the only non-Japanese allowed to attend the trial of the men involved in Mishima's spectacular suicide. In this insightful and empathetic look at the writer, Stokes guides the reader through the milestones of Mishima's meteoric and eclectic career and delves into the artist's major works and themes. This biography skillfully and compassionately illuminates the achievements and disquieting ideas of a brilliant and deeply troubled man, an artist of whom Nobel Laureate Yasunari Kawabata had said, "A writer of Mishima's caliber comes along only once every two or three hundred years."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781461624226
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/08/2000
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Henry Scott Stokes is a noted journalist who has worked for both the New York Times and the London Times. Most recently, he has edited an anthology entitled The Kwangju Uprising: Eyewitness Press Accounts of Korea's Tiananmen. He lives in Tokyo.

Table of Contents

	Prologue: A Personal Impression	3
1	The Last Day
1	Off to the Parade	9
2	The Fight in the General's Office	11
3	Tenno Heika Banzai!	25
4	Hara-kiri	29
5	"Out of His Mind"	33
2	Early Life (1925-39)
1	The Chrysanthemum and the Sword	35
2	Birth	37
3	Fairy Tales and Fantasies	42
4	School and Adolescence	48
3	The Making of Yukio Mishima (1940-49)
1	Child of Ancient History	62
2	The "Irony" of It All	68
3	Fearful Days	79
4	Kawabata's Protege	88
4	The Four Rivers (1950-70)
1	Pictures at an Exhibition	96
2	The River of Writing	97
Part 1	1950-54	98
Part 2	1955-63	111
Part 3	1964-70	136
3	The River of Theater	168
4	The River of Body	181
5	The River of Action	191
Part 1	"Patriotism"	192
Part 2	Picnic on Mt. Fuji	210
Part 3	Sauna Baths and Secrecy	235
Part 4	The Decay of the Angel	249
5	Epilogue (1995-99)
	Glossary	283
	Chronology	289
	Acknowledgments and Sources	297
	Bibliography	301
	Index	307

What People are Saying About This

Tom Wolfe

A brilliant, riveting portrayal not only of Mishima, but also of the upper orders in Japan

Editorial Reviews

This revised edition of Stokes' 1974 biography of Japanese novelist Mishima, whose obsession with samurai culture and the Emperor led him to commit hara-kiri as a political protest in 1970, is also available in hardcover for $27.50 (-18623-5). (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The book is humane, intelligent, and probably as close as a Western reader is likely to get to the subject.... A literate examination examination of the man's work.

Time

A brilliant, riveting portrayal not only of Mishima, but also of the upper orders in Japan

Tom Wolfe

The book is humane, intelligent, and probably as close as a Western reader is likely to get to the subject.... A literate examination examination of the man's work.

Time

A brilliant, riveting portrayal not only of Mishima, but also of the upper orders in Japan--Tom Wolfe

The book is humane, intelligent, and probably as close as a Western reader is likely to get to the subject.... A literate examination examination of the man's work.--Time

From the Publisher