After writing mostly positive reviews on the work of Yukio Mishima , I want to write of those areas of Mishima's life and actions which I find most disturbing.
I've already mentioned the uncomfortable elements found in his second novel, Confessions of a Mask, concerning homosexuality and sadomasochism.
I recently watched the 1985 American biographical drama film based on his life and work - Mishima - A Life In Four Chapters - which uses portions of Confessions of a Mask as a description of Mishima's early life, while the novel, Runaway Horses and Mishima's short film, Yûkoku (Patriotism - The Rite of Love and Death) were used for describing his later life and as an explanation, of sorts, for the end drama of his life.
Mishima had formed his own private army, which he planned to use in a coup d'etat. On November 25, 1970, Mishima and four members of his army attempted to take over a military base in central Tokyo. They barricaded the office of commandant Kanetoshi Mashita and tied the commandant to his chair. With a written manifesto and a banner listing his demands, Mishima stepped out onto the balcony outside the commandant's office to address the soldiers.
The soldiers were not receptive to Mishima's manifesto.
After finishing his speech, Mishima went back into the office and committed seppuku (harakiri).
Mishima had planned his suicide for at least a year. He had often mentioned that he would die after completing The Decay of the Angel, the final novel in his The Sea of Fertility tetralogy. The novel was completed just before his suicide.
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