Yukio Mishima, born Kimitake Hiraoka, was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, nationalist, and founder of the Tatenokai. Mishima is considered one of the most important post-war stylists of the Japanese language. He was considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times in the 1960s—including in 1968, but that year the award went to his countryman and benefactor Yasunari Kawabata. His works include the novels Confessions of a Mask and The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, and the autobiographical essay Sun and Steel. Mishima's work is characterized by "its luxurious vocabulary and decadent metaphors, its fusion of traditional Japanese and modern Western literary styles, and its obsessive assertions of the unity of beauty, eroticism and death", according to author Andrew Rankin.
Shūji Tsushima, known by his pen name Osamu Dazai, was a Japanese novelist and author. A number of his most popular works, such as The Setting Sun and No Longer Human, are considered modern-day classics.
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is a 1985 biographical drama film directed by Paul Schrader from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Leonard and Leonard's wife Chieko Schrader. The film is based on the life and work of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, interweaving episodes from his life with dramatizations of segments from his books The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoko's House, and Runaway Horses. Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas were executive producers of the film, which has a musical score composed by Philip Glass and production design by Eiko Ishioka.
John Weil Nathan is an American translator, writer, scholar, filmmaker, and Japanologist. His translations from Japanese into English include the works of Yukio Mishima, Kenzaburō Ōe, Kōbō Abe, and Natsume Sōseki. Nathan is also an Emmy Award-winning producer, writer and director of several films about Japanese culture and society and American business. He is Professor Emeritus of Japanese Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The Sea of Fertility is a tetralogy of novels written by the Japanese author Yukio Mishima. The four novels are Spring Snow (1969), Runaway Horses (1969), The Temple of Dawn (1970), and The Decay of the Angel (1971). The series, which Mishima began writing in 1964 and which was his final work, is usually thought of as his masterpiece. Its title refers to the Mare Fecunditatis, a lunar mare. The first English translated editions by Alfred A. Knopf and the Charles E. Tuttle Company featured cover designs by the graphic artist Joseph del Gaudio.
Nagai Naoyuki, also known as Nagai Genba or Nagai Mondonoshō, was a Japanese hatamoto under the Tokugawa of Bakumatsu period Japan.
Confessions of a Mask is the second novel by Japanese author Yukio Mishima. First published on 5 July 1949 by Kawade Shobō, it launched him to national fame though he was only in his early twenties. Some have posited that Mishima's similarities to the main character of the novel come from the character acting as a stand-in for Mishima's own autobiographical story.
Ivan Ira Esme Morris was an English writer, translator and editor in the field of Japanese studies.
Allan Kozinn is an American journalist, music critic, and teacher.
Matsudaira Yorinori was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period. He was the ninth feudal lord of the Shishido han and the Daimyō of 10,000 koku. His father, Matsudaira Yoritaka, was the eighth feudal lord of the Shishido han.
Viscount Matsudaira Yoritaka was a Japanese daimyō of the late Edo period who served as daimyō of Shishido han. Retiring early, he was succeeded by his son Matsudaira Yorinori, but Yoritaka returned to headship following Yorinori's death in 1864. Though the domain was abolished following its involvement in the chaos of the Tengu-tō (天狗党) "Tengu Party" revolt of 1864, the new Satsuma-Chōshu centered government of the Meiji Emperor forgave Shishido, and allowed Yoritaka to retake his former holdings. Becoming han chiji by Imperial order in 1869, he remained in that position until the abolition of the domains in 1871. After that he became a Shinto priest and was famed as a prolific writer. His son Matsudaira Yoriyasu succeeded him as family head in 1880. Yoritaka's granddaughter Natsu, is famous as the grandmother of Mishima Yukio. Under the new system of nobility, Yoriyasu became a viscount.
Naoki Inose is a Japanese politician, journalist, historian, social critic and biographer of literary figures such as Yukio Mishima and Osamu Dazai. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Tokyo from June 2007 until becoming Acting Governor on 1 November 2012 following the resignation of Shintaro Ishihara. He was elected Governor in a historical landslide victory in December 2012, but announced his resignation on December 19, 2013, following a political funds-related scandal; his resignation was approved and became effective December 24, 2013.
Hiroaki Sato is a Japanese poet and prolific translator who writes frequently for The Japan Times. He has been called "perhaps the finest translator of contemporary Japanese poetry into American English". Sato received the Japan–U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature in 1999 for his translation of Breeze Through Bamboo by Ema Saikō and in 2017 for The Silver Spoon: Memoir of a Boyhood in Japan by Kansuke Naka.
"Patriotism" is a short story by Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. It was first published in the January 1961 winter issue of Shōsetsu Chūōkōron (小説中央公論), which was published by Chūōkōron-sha in December 1960.
Stone Bridge Press, Inc. is a publishing company distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution and founded in 1989. Authors published include Donald Richie and Frederik L. Schodt. Stone Bridge publishes books related to Japan, having published some 90 books on a wide variety of subjects: anime and manga, calligraphy, and origami; guides on Japanese customs, culture, and aesthetics; Japanese language books, Japan-related fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Recently, Stone Bridge has broadened its subjects to more of Asia, and have published books on Korea and China, as well.
Richard Appignanesi is a Canadian writer and editor. He was the originating editor of the internationally successful illustrated For Beginners book series, as well as the author of several of the series' texts. He is a founding publisher and editor of Icon Books. He was founding editor of the Manga Shakespeare series. He is a former executive editor of the journal Third Text, and reviews editor of the policy studies journal Futures.
The Frolic of the Beasts is a 1961 novel by Yukio Mishima. It is considered a minor work from Mishima's middle period. Drawing inspiration from Noh plays, specifically the 14th-century Motomezuka, the novel centers on a tragic love triangle depraved by adultery and violence. It is a short novel in length and has a nonlinear narrative structure. The novel was first serialised thirteen times in the weekly magazine Shukan Shincho between 12 June 1961 and 4 September 1961. It was published in hardcover format by Shinchosha on 30 September 1961. It was published in paperback by Shincho Bunko on 10 July 1966. The novel was translated into Italian by Lydia Origlia and published by Feltrinelli in September 1983. The novel was translated into English by Andrew Clare and published in paperback format in the United States and Canada by Vintage International on 27 November 2018. Clare's translation was later published in paperback in the United Kingdom by Penguin Modern Classics on 4 April 2019. The English translation was re-released in the United Kingdom on 2 November 2023 as part of Penguin's Japanese Classics series.
"Star" is a short story by Yukio Mishima. It was originally published in the November 1960 issue of Gunzo, a literary magazine published by Kodansha. It was later included alongside "Patriotism" and "Hyakuman'en senbei" in the short story collection of the same name, Sutā (スタア), which was published on 30 January 1961 by Shinchosha.
Kusunoki Masasue was a samurai warlord during the Nanboku-chō period, and the younger brother of Kusunoki Masashige. He died alongside his brother as part of the Battle of Minatogawa on July 5, 1336. He is famous for his last words Shichishō Hōkoku!.
Tony Tani (トニー谷) was a popular Japanese entertainer of the 1950s. His flamboyant stage persona satirized American stereotypes of the Japanese as well as the influence of the U.S. occupation on Japanese culture.
