Yukio Mishima
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Kimitake Hiraoka, known by his pen name Yukio Mishima, was a Japanese novelist, playwright, short story writer, actor, martial artist, model, and the leader of an attempted coup d'état that culminated
Mishima in 1955
Mishima's self-portrait drawn in junior high school
Mishima at age 19, with his sister Mitsuko at age 16 (on 9 September 1944)
Mishima with his cat (Asahigraph, 12 May 1948 issue). He was known as a cat-lover. Yōko (his wife) was jealous of his pet cat, and disliked him petting it.
Seppuku
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Seppuku, also called harakiri, is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese peop
Yukio Mishima
…a Japanese novelist, playwright, short story writer, actor, martial artist, model, and the leader of an attempted coup d'état that culminated in his seppuku. He is considered one of the most important postwar stylists of the Japanese language. Mishima was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five…
Staged seppuku with ritual attire and kaishakunin assistant, 1897
Samurai about to perform seppuku
A tantō prepared for seppuku
The wife of Onodera Junai, one of the forty-seven rōnin, prepares for her suicide; note the legs tied together, a feature of female seppuku to ensure a decent posture in death