Securities: yukio mishima: the nationalist with the face of a movie star (2010). The last of the samurai

In his work and life, including the shocking act of his suicide, he clearly showed the dissonance between the still existing traditional Japanese way of life and the growing demands for Europeanization. His work and symbolic death caused a wide resonance both in the West and in the East.

His personality

Hiraoka Kimitake was born on January 14, 1925 in Tokyo, Japan. The son of a high-ranking civil servant who admired Hitler and Nazism, he was educated at the prestigious peers' school in Tokyo. He began writing very early and published his first short story under the pen name Yukio Mishima when he was only sixteen. When the Second World War began, he wanted to get into the army, but he did not succeed. During the war, he worked in a factory in Tokyo and wrote. After the defeat of Japan, he took up law studies at the University of Tokyo and worked in the Ministry of Finance from 1948-1949. In 1949, his second novel, Confession of a Mask, was published, which brought him rapid fame. The story of a boy discovering his homosexuality and being forced to hide it behind a mask was well received by Japanese teenagers who seemed to lack such literature. Other novels followed, including The Forbidden Colors (1953), The Tower of the Golden Pavilion (1959), The Sailor Rejected by the Sea (1963), The Sun and Steel (1968). Mishima has also written numerous screenplays, notably the famous Madame de Sade, and several others for the Kabuki theater and the modern No drama theater.

In 1966, Mishima starred in the film "Patriotism", which he directed based on a short story of the same name. Both the film and the story tell - in shocking detail - about a young Japanese officer and his devoted wife, their preparation and the execution of a ritual suicide known as seppuku. The effect was hypnotic and deeply penetrating. Mishima was increasingly attracted by Japan's militaristic samurai past. He also sympathized with and welcomed the tradition of homosexual love between samurai warriors (the Jesuit missionaries of the 16th century were especially shocked by it). Mishima's literature ("Mi-shi-ma" is a pseudonym literally meaning "The Devil Enchanted by Death") presents a mesmerizing play of masks, the beauty of violence and torment. Even the titles of his plays sound defiant - "My friend Hitler", "Marquis de Sade". Homosexual motives clearly sound in the novels of the early period of Mishima's work - "Confession of a Mask" and "Forbidden Colors". "Confessions of a Mask" is built on autobiographical stories about the passions and experiences of a young Japanese man of the middle of the twentieth century, acutely aware of his difference from ordinary people. First published in 1949, this work amazed the Japanese (and then European) reader not only with the bold frankness of the author, who confesses his homosexual and sadistic fantasies, but also with the maturity of style and virtuosity of writing, which is unusual for a 24-year-old prose writer.

Despite his homosexuality, Mishima was married and had two children. He was so impressed with the physical perfection of his body that he gave himself up to physical fitness with fervor. While practicing karate and kendo, traditional Japanese martial arts, this formerly pampered youth, who at one time could not withstand the physical tests to enter the army, managed to build his own private army called the "Shield Society", the purpose of which was to protect the emperor in the event of an uprising the leftist or communist attack, the growing danger of which Mishima, due to his paranoia, anticipated with horror in the late 1960s.

On the morning of November 25, 1970, Mishima and four of his fellow samurai from the Shield Society entered the headquarters of the Self-Defense Forces. Having tied up the chief of staff, General Mashitu, they demanded that the military units stationed nearby be lined up on the parade ground and that Mishima be allowed to deliver a speech to them. Armed with swords, they made their way to the roof of the building, where Mishima delivered a ten-minute speech to the thousands of employees gathered below. He attacked the Japanese constitution, with its ban on the creation of an army, accusing it of betraying the spirit of Japan: “We see how Japan is bathed in prosperity,” he explained to the audience, “and more and more gets bogged down in spiritual emptiness ... perhaps you would like the life that the world gives you, where the spirit died? " The headquarters were immediately cordoned off by the police, and after half an hour, agitated soldiers lined up on the parade ground. Reporters occupied the rooftops of neighboring houses, helicopters of TV companies hovered in the sky. Because of the whistle and shouts that rose, only isolated phrases were heard: "You must rise to protect Japan! The Emperor! .. There will be no other chance to change the constitution!" But there were no people willing to storm the parliament. Shouting "Long live the emperor", Mishima disappeared into General Masita's office. The tragic ending was planned in advance: the uniform was put on a naked body, a cotton plug was inserted into the anus (to avoid an unpleasant incident). Morita, a favorite student of Mishima, handed him an ancient sword made by a renowned master. Mishima sat down on the floor, exposed his stomach and made a long, deep cut with his sword. According to tradition, one of his followers, Morita, who was rumored to be Mishima's lover, cut off his teacher's head with his own sword, and then committed suicide.

Sex life

As a boy, Mishima painted beautiful knights dying of wounds, and was unpleasantly amazed that Jeanne D "Ark was not a man, as he was sure, but a woman dressed in a man's suit. From that day on, he hated women in men's clothes and raged when his wife wore trousers.At the age of 12, Mishima had his first orgasm while looking at a painting depicting the holy martyr Sebastian dying of wounds from arrows.

Around the same time, he fell in love with a classmate boy and became fetishistic about three things: underarm hair, perspiration, and white gloves. Mishima was a desperate masturbator who fantasized about sadistic scenes and cannibalistic passions.

In his youth, he began to show interest in women, and during his studies he started an affair with a girl. When she married another, Mishima got drunk as he never had in his life.

Due to his literary fame, Mishima could be more or less open in his sexual predilections, was a regular in gay bars in the Ginza district of Tokyo. He despised effeminate men and was what the Japanese call "the bearer of two swords," which meant that he felt free with both men and women, but preferred men more.

Mishima adored young, rude and even uncouth guys. During his trip to New York in 1952, he went to many gay bars in search of his male ideal.

He often walked through the parks, met young men and invited them to his hotel room. However, Mishima liked to look after women as well, but he didn’t like to “participate in the final act” with them. This is not to say that women were delighted with the writer. He had a rather odd appearance - at 5 feet 2 inches, he had a well-developed, muscular torso, and slender, limp legs. One popular store polled girls, and 50% of them said they would rather commit suicide than marry a popular novelist. However, there was one who became his wife in 1958. It was Yoko Sugiyama, Mishima's mother hated her with every fiber of her soul, jealous of her son. His marriage was the façade that forced him to be decorous - the façade that his widow looked behind only after his death, looking through newspaper reports about her husband's homosexuality.

He treated Yoko Mishima as an equal, often invited her in the company of friends, which was unheard of in Japan at that time.

Mishima's most important erotic interest was a painful, bloody death, and everyone who knew the writer said that his suicide could be considered an exceptional form of masturbation.

"Spring Snow" (1969) - the first book of the tetralogy "Sea of ​​Plenty", the main literary work of Yukio Mishima (1925-1970), a classic of Japanese literature of the XX century.
The plot of Yukio Mishima's tetralogy "Sea of ​​Abundance" is based on a story that really embodies the Buddhist concept of the cycle of human existence.

One of the earliest and most significant works of Yukio Mishima, "The Thirst for Love" was included by UNESCO in the collection of masterpieces of Japanese literature. The novel takes place in the post-war period in a small village near the city of Osaka. The main character, Etsuko, is a young widow, possessed by a secret passion for the young gardener ...

For the old writer, women brought only disappointment, pain and grief. On the seashore, in a moment of mental discord, he meets a beautiful young man Yuichi Minami, who is tormented by a secret passion - the desire for same-sex love. From Yuichi, the writer intends to create an instrument for revenge on all women who once caused him suffering. But even at the very bottom of Sodom's debauchery, neither the filth nor the vulgarity of this world sticks to the young man. Like a cloud - cold, light and indifferent - it glides across the land of people.

Yukio Mishima is the most famous and widely read Japanese writer in the world; He became famous equally both for his works in all conceivable genres (novels, plays, stories, essays - more than a hundred volumes) and for his extravagant style of life and death (hara-kiri after an unsuccessful attempt at a monarchical coup).

Yukio Mishima is the most famous and widely read Japanese writer in the world, author of such bestsellers as "The Golden Temple", "Confessions of the Mask", "The Philosophical Diary of a Maniac Murderer Who Lived in the Middle Ages" and others. He is also known as a director, actor, conductor, photographer, sportsman, radical monarchist and a supporter of the samurai tradition. The stories and the play included in this collection are united by the paradoxicality of ideas, metaphors and allusions, the jewelry virtuosity of the style.

The novel "Golden Temple" by the famous Japanese writer Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) is based on a real event. In 1950, a young monk burned down the Kyoto Temple. Under the pen of the writer, this story turns into a gripping parable about the great and destructive power of beauty.
Translated from Japanese and introductory article by Grigory Chkhartishvili.

"Confessions of a Mask" is a novel by the famous Japanese writer Yukio Mishima (1925-1970), which brought fame to the twenty-four-year-old author and brought him worldwide fame. The key theme of this famous work is the theme of death, in which the hero of the story sees "the true purpose of life."

The world famous Japanese writer Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) left a huge literary legacy. He penned about a hundred volumes of prose, drama, journalism, critical articles and essays. Yukio Mishima became famous as a subtle stylist, despite the fact that many of his works are devoted to the theme of destruction and death.

Yukio Mishima is an enfant-terribl of Japanese literature, an unconditional world classic and writer, descending into the depths of hell and ascending to angelic heights in his work. The most famous and widely read Japanese author in the world, he became famous equally both for his works in all conceivable genres (novels, plays, stories, essays - more than a hundred volumes) and for his extravagant lifestyle and death (hara-kiri after an unsuccessful attempt .. ...

The second part of the tetralogy "Sea of ​​Abundance" embodies the Buddhist concept of the cycle of life. In "Carrying Horses" the line of the heroes of "Spring Snow" continues. The rationalist and legalist Shigekuni Honda in adulthood brings life together with a nineteen-year-old boy, in whom he suddenly sees his beloved friend Kiyoaki Matsugae.

Yukio Mishima stood on the parapet and from a height addressed the soldiers of the garrison he had just captured and his comrades-in-arms: "Are you samurai or not?" Mishima gave a long, prepared speech about how the new order kills souls, that the country's constitution abolishes valor and honor. White gloves, a brand new ironed uniform - the image was thought out to the smallest detail. Mishima was planning a coup d'état. The soldiers below were perplexed by the unfolding performance. Someone shouted: "Get out of there", someone interrupted Mishima's speech with swear words. The playwright never finished. He left the balcony, returned to the room where his comrades-in-arms in the Shield Society private army he had created were awaiting him, said: “They did not listen to me,” and prepared to commit ritual suicide - hara-kiri. The uniform was worn over a naked body, death was supposed to be a spectacular and beautiful point in this bright life. Mishima ripped open his stomach, and his comrades-in-arms, as required by custom, had to chop off his head. It turned out that the young guys from the Shield Society were inspired by stories about hara-kiri, but they had never encountered the ritual in reality, so it was possible to chop off the head only the third time - the beauty of the moment was spoiled, but Mishima did not recognize this.

Closed childhood

Yukio Mishima as a child. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Kimitake Hiraoka, such is his real name, was a weak, sickly child, so he often skipped school, did not play with his peers, but spent time at home, alone with himself or reading books. The writer's grandmother also contributed to the isolation of the boy. Natsuko- a woman with a complex and even somewhat hysterical character. At seven months old, she took him away from his parents. Kimitake lived with his grandmother in the same room, from childhood he was forbidden to make noise, play, or walk. From the personal space, only fantasies remained, in which, as the writer later recalled, death, blood, pain were always present. The theme of death will attract him all his life - and he will constantly return to it.

Natsuko created a closed home world for the boy, where she instilled in him a love of theater and literature. The boy could see his parents only with the permission of his grandmother. He hardly communicated with his peers. This was until the age of 12.

Then Kimitake, who received a good education at home, studied at a privileged school, where he demonstrated outstanding results and even received a silver watch from the hands of the emperor as a reward for his success.

At the age of sixteen, he wrote the story "The Blooming Forest" - about beauty, death and their identity. This is how the writer Yukio Mishima was born.

The Second World War was going on, the writers of that time were constantly thinking about death, the possible destruction of the world. Naturally, this topic could not pass by the impressionable young man who has dreamed of death since childhood. True, then Mishima preferred to read, reflect and fantasize about her - when a call to war loomed on the horizon, the writer, under the pretext of poor health, managed to avoid it.

Write so as not to kill

On August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered. A series of suicides began in the country. Mishima's idol, a literary critic, also committed suicide Zemei Hasuda.

After the war, Mishima went to work as an official, while simultaneously studying literature, which does not bring money. Everything changed when the 1949 novel "Confessions of the Mask" was published, which brought him fame and recognition, although it caused a lot of controversy because of his openly proclaimed homosexuality.

The writer continues to be overcome by thoughts of death - later he will write that he desperately wanted to kill someone in order to see the red blood, and he created novels in order not to commit murder in the real world - but only on the pages of his books.

In 1952, Mishima travels around the world and finds himself fascinated by Greece. In the marble statues of ancient athletes, he sees beauty, health, perfection. The frail and sickly writer decides that he will now devote himself to sports and make his body physically perfect.

Yukio Mishima. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Returning to Japan, he begins to engage in bodybuilding, and later the fencing arts of kendo and karate. At the same time, his writing style is changing dramatically. Mishima writes one of his most famous works - the novel "The Golden Temple", based on the story of the burning of the Kinkakuji Temple by a young monk. And again, the main themes of the novel are beauty and death as a whole.

The most fruitful period of the writer begins, the novels come out one after another, become popular, and are filmed. Mishima tries himself as a playwright, and later as a director and actor.

The writer becomes practically a pop star in Japan, skillfully stirring up the interest of the public - he acts in films, acts as a model, makes scandalous statements. Mishima begins to be published in the West. Despite his rather open homosexuality, he is getting married.

In the mid-sixties, Mishima wrote two scandalous, but still running on the stage of many theaters in the world - "The Marquis de Sade" and "My friend Hitler". In the Soviet encyclopedia, in an article about Mishima, the writer is called a preacher of sexual perversion and fascist ideas. In fact, Mishima was far from politics. He was attracted to strong personalities who are not afraid to challenge public morality. Mishima was also far from morality - he never measured events "good" or "evil", his main criteria were "beauty" and "strength". By the way, "My friend Hitler" is just a quote from Ernst Rohm, a character in the play. But what a scandalous name it got. The writer loved provocations.

At the same time, the second, completely different life of Yukio Mishima began. It seemed as if he had been replaced. A bully, a provocateur, a person with very free views for conservative Japan suddenly becomes far-right.

Shield Society

In 1966, Mishima met the editor of a nationalist magazine, became close to nationalists and even came up with the idea of ​​creating his own paramilitary group. He enters the self-defense forces of Japan, flies on a fighter plane, writes journalistic articles, in which there is nothing about death and beauty, but there is nothing about the state and about the place of the emperor in it. Mishima becomes a supporter of the return of the empire and offers to give the emperor unlimited power.

Soon, the idea of ​​a paramilitary group is being embodied in a private army, the Shield Society, led by Mishima. With four members of the team, he goes to carry out a coup d'état.

Yukio Mishima makes a speech before performing hara-kiri. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Mishima knew it wouldn't work. And if the boys from the "Shield Society" probably believed in changing the existing order, then the writer was simply preparing spectacular scenery for his own death. On the eve of the seizure of the base, he sent his latest novel to the publisher. He put on a luxurious uniform over his naked body, hung an old sword on his side. He dressed his retinue in the same uniforms. Snow white gloves in addition to the look - red blood on them will be very beautiful.

Mishima and his companions were ushered into the base commandant's office, where they tied down the general and barricaded themselves indoors. The Shield Society demanded that the soldiers be assembled in front of the balcony of the general office. What happened next?

“You must rise up to defend Japan! Emperor! .. There will be no other chance to change the constitution! "

A speech that was not heard, and a suicide that did not work out the way I wanted.

With the death of the leader, the "Shield Society" also ceased to exist, although the ultra-right immediately made Mishima their icon.

Yukio Mishima, real name Kimitake Hiraoka (Hiraoka Kimitake) (1925–1970) was an eminent Japanese writer and playwright. A prominent representative of the second wave of post-war Japanese literature, he continued the traditions of Japanese aestheticism. In 1988, the Yukio Mishima Prize was established by the Shinchsha Publishing House in memory of the writer.

Yukio Mishima was born on January 14, 1925 in the family of a major government official Azusa Hiraoka and his wife Shizue.

Why is the sight of naked human entrails considered so terrible? Why, seeing the inside of our body, do we close our eyes in horror? Why is our internal structure so disgusting? Isn't it the same nature with glossy youthful skin? What is inhuman in assimilating our body to a rose, which is equally beautiful both outside and inside? Imagine if people could turn their souls and bodies inside out - gracefully, as if turning a rose petal - and expose them to the radiance of the sun and the breath of the May breeze ...
(Golden Temple)

Mishima Yukio

Mishima's father, having graduated with honors from the Faculty of Law of Tokyo Imperial University, brilliantly passed the state exam required to work as an official at the highest level, but due to personal bias and intrigues on the sidelines of the bureaucratic apparatus, instead of the Ministry of Finance, he was hired by the Ministry, which is now is called the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

A colleague of Mishima's father at work was the future Prime Minister of Japan, Nobuske Kishi. After the eldest son Kimitake, his younger sister Mitsuko (b. 1928) and brother Chiyuki (b. 1930) were born in the family.

Mishima's grandfather Jotaro Hiraoka in 1908-1914 was the governor of South Sakhalin. Resigned after a scandal related to speculation in the Sakhalin forest.

Until the age of 12, when he entered the first grade of middle school, Kimitake lived and was raised in the house of Natsuko's grandmother. Even with his mother, he could only see with the permission of his grandmother.

Living together with Natsuko, who took the sickly Kimitake from her parents and, protecting him from the outside world, who began to raise the child in strict and sophisticated aristocratic traditions, had a huge influence on the formation of the future writer.

Kimitake's isolation from peers of the same gender led him to speak in a manner typical of a woman's speech.

The Japanese are people who, at the core of their daily life, are always aware of death. The Japanese ideal of death is clear and simple, and in this sense it differs from the hideous, terrible death as it is seen by the people of the West ... Japanese art is not enriched by cruel and savage death, but rather death, from under a terrifying mask which gushes clear water ... This key gives rise to many streams that carry their clean water to our world.
(Introduction to Hagakure)

Mishima Yukio

Prone to hysteria, Natsuko, despite the psychological stress caused by her behavior in Kimitake, being a keen connoisseur of kabuki and, but also the creativity of Kyoka Izumi, instilled in Kimitake a love of prose and theater.

Serious illnesses and constant ailments, due to which Mishima did not take part in the games of his peers and often missed school, also left an indelible imprint on the personality of the future writer.

Mishima grew up as an impressionable and gifted child who spent a lot of time reading books. He graduated from a privileged school with honors, having received a silver watch from the hands of the Japanese emperor.

Obeying his father's wishes, Mishima entered the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, where he studied German law.

The same period of the writer's life includes his strong fascination with the literature of German romanticism, which later gave rise to an interest in the works of Thomas Mann and the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche.

Kiriko never screamed - one of the signs of mind poisoning. The carpet was also silent ...
(A room locked with a key)

Mishima Yukio

On August 15, 1945, the War in the Pacific ended with the surrender of Japan. In the stream of suicides that followed this day, a lieutenant and a former literary critic, Zemmei Hasuda, who at that time was Mishima's idol and spiritual mentor, who shot himself to death on August 19 in Malaysia, was also found. On October 23rd, Mitsuko, Mishima's younger sister, died of typhus at the age of 17.

At the same time, Mishima's break with her first love Kuniko Mitani (she later married a bank clerk, becoming the aunt of the famous Japanese entrepreneur Junda Ayugawa), the daughter of statesman and diplomat Takanobu Mitani and the younger sister of Makoto Mitani, one of Mishima's closest friends ... Kuniko and Makoto Mitani served as prototypes for Sonoko and Kusano, the characters of the later written novel

In 1946, Mishima made a pilgrimage to Kamakura to the recognized classic of Japanese literature, Yasunari Kawabata, who lived there, showing him the manuscript of his stories "Cigarette" and "The Middle Ages" with a request to assist in their publication.

The collapse of the world is just a fantasy. Strangers continue to live forever.
(A room locked with a key)

Mishima Yukio

Thus, having entered the literary world thanks to the patronage of a senior master, Mishima retained a respectful attitude towards Kawabata as his teacher until the end of his life (while, however, never directly calling him his own teacher, limiting himself to addressing Kawabata-san). In the same year, Mishima's story "Narration at the Cape" appeared in the magazine "Gundzo".

In January 1947, Mishima began to take part in informal meetings organized by Osama Dazai and Katsuichiro Kamei.

There is a known case when, at one of the meetings, expressing his opinion about the work of Dazai, Mishima categorically stated that he could not stand his works.

According to Mishima himself, Dazai, shocked by this impudent statement, replied that since Mishima still comes here, it means that he is not indifferent to Dazai's works.

It is curious that Kazuo Nohara, who was also present at this incident, transmits Dazai's words, spoken by him with outright anger, otherwise: "If you don't like it, don't come here again." The scandalousness of Mishima's statements and actions will later become one of his integral features.

Is it safe to say that the audience in the hall has absolutely nothing to do with the events on the stage?
(A room locked with a key)

Mishima Yukio

In November 1947, Mishima graduated from the University of Tokyo Law School. While trying to get a job at the Japanese Industrial Bank, he passed the relevant exam, but Mishima's candidacy was rejected due to his poor health.

After that, however, having successfully passed the state qualification exam required to work as a high-ranking official (in the list of results, Mishima's name was on the 138th place out of 167), Mishima worked for some time in the Ministry of the Imperial Court, after which, on the recommendation of his father, he moved to the Ministry of Finance.

Combining the work of an official with an active literary activity, Mishima wrote his first work of a large form, entitled "The Thief".

At the same time, he met the writer Fusao Hayashi, relations with whom Mishima spoiled only in his later years, according to him, due to Hayashi's political lack of principles.

In 1948, Mishima joined the literary association "Contemporary Literature". Having received an order from Kazuki Sakamoto, editor-in-chief of the publishing house Kawadeseboshinsha, to write a novel, Mishima, who was trying to live the double life of an official and a writer, almost died due to exhaustion of his body, falling from a railway platform and almost falling under a train.

If a person closes his eyes and begins to persistently convince himself that he is a cigarette case, then at some point in reality he will be able to turn into a cigarette case.
(A room locked with a key)

Mishima Yukio

This incident contributed to the fact that in September 1948, Mishima resigned from the Ministry of Finance and devoted himself entirely to literary activity, with which his father was gradually forced to come to terms.

In July 1949, the novel "Confession of a Mask", just completed by Mishima, was published, which, on the one hand, became a sensation due to the frankly presented homosexuality, and on the other, was highly praised by critics, which allowed Mishima to take his place in the literary elite Japan.

The Confessions of the Mask was followed by Lust for Love (1950) and Forbidden Pleasures (1951). On the basis of the newly homosexual "Forbidden Pleasures" by Tatsumi Hijikata in 1959 he staged a performance of the same name, which is usually identified with the birth of the butoh dance. The success of Mishima's numerous works propelled him to the forefront of Japanese post-war literature.

In December 1951, under the patronage of his father and as a special correspondent for the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, Mishima went on a round-the-world trip, from where he returned the following August.

From his trip around the world, Mishima brought, in his own words, a personal rediscovery of sunlight, corporeality and sensations, which had a huge impact on his further literary activity.

Returning to Japan, starting around 1955, he undertook a radical restructuring of his own body, becoming involved in bodybuilding.

At the same time, Mishima, having become interested in the classical Japanese literary tradition (his attention was primarily attracted by Mori Ogai), began to change his writing style.

Mishima's ambivalent change was expressed in the novel The Golden Temple (1956), influenced by the aesthetics of Mori Ogai and Thomas Mann, based on the story of the burning of the Kinkakuji temple by a young monk. The Golden Temple became one of the writer's creations and is considered the most widely read work of Japanese literature in the world.

During these years, a period of enthusiastic perception of each new work of Mishima by readers began. First written against the background of the idyllic landscape of Kamishima Island (Mie Prefecture) based on the Greek classics Daphnis and Chloe, the Noise of the Surf (1954) novel, and then The Long Spring (1956) and Shaken Virtue (1957) opened a series of works that have become bestsellers.

Many of them became so popular that they were filmed. Mishima became one of the central figures in the Japanese literary world.

At the same time, as if demonstrating the versatility of his own talent, Mishima turned to drama and wrote, along with numerous plays, a collection of modern plays for the theater, No, and then, joining the Bungakuza theater, made his debut as a director of his own works and an actor.

In 1959, the novel "The Kyoko House" was published, the creation of which took about two years and which, according to the author's plan, was opposed to the "Golden Temple": if the "Golden Temple" was a deep analysis of the inner world of an individual, then in the "Kyoko House" »The display of the essence of the modern era as a whole has become central.

Literary critics were divided, with Takeo Okuno calling the work a true masterpiece, while Ken Hirano and Jun Eto unanimously praised The Kyoko House as a complete failure. Reactions from readers leaning towards Hirano and Eto were also not positive.

As a result, Mishima, spoiled by success, for the first time in his literary career experienced a really strong disappointment, which became a turning point for his entire future career.

Nevertheless, for Mishima, who continued to be popular, the period following the publication of the Kyoko House was fruitful.

Among the novels and stories he wrote during these years, "After the Banquet" (1960), "The Beautiful Star" (1962), "Silk and Discernment" (1964), short stories "Senbei for Ten Thousand Yen" (1960), "Patriotism" (1961), The Sword (1963), the plays Roses and Pirates (1958), Tropical Trees (1960), Koto Bringing Joy (1963) and other works.

Mishima's personal life also changed. In 1958, he married Yoko Sugiyama, daughter of the famous master of classical Japanese painting, Yasushi Sugiyama.

Mishima commented on the choice of his wife, saying on this occasion that Yoko, as the artist's daughter, is free from illusions about what the artist really is.

Together with his wife, Mishima settled in a new mansion built in an American colonial architectural style reminiscent of the Victorian era (the design and construction was carried out by the famous Japanese construction company Shimizu Kensetsu). However, the long-awaited completion of the ambitious construction also brought numerous troubles.

Among them are the scandal and the lawsuit initiated by the diplomat Khachiro Arita, who in 1961 accused Mishima of violating Arita's right to privacy in the piece "After the Banquet" (the case was closed with Arita's death in 1965).

In addition, in the same year, Mishima received physical threats from right-wing radicals, prompted by Mishima's well-known support of the writer Shiro Fukazawa, who in his novel "An Unusual Dream" included the scene of the Japanese communist assassination of Crown Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko. , which offended the extremists and led to a terrorist attack known in the press as "The Nakajima Scandal" (named after the president of the publishing house Chuokoron, whose home and family were attacked).

As a result, for several months Mishima's residence was under police protection. The feeling of fear of right-wing extremists experienced by Mishima during this period, according to his younger brother, diplomat Chiyuki Hiraoka, largely explains the radical and ultra-right views of the "late" Mishima.

Already by 1962, Mishima had matured in sufficient detail the idea of ​​the tetralogy "Sea of ​​Abundance", and in 1963 a new scandal erupted, this time around the play "Koto Bringing Joy", which the management of the Bungakuza Theater categorically refused to stage due to its excessive politicization: as a result, Mishima and 14 leading theater actors defiantly left Bungakuza.

However, despite the fact that "Koto Bringing Joy" and some of Mishima's other works largely corresponded to the spirit of the time when, in the wake of an unprecedented civil protest against the Japanese-American security treaty, the intersection of politics and art became ubiquitous, Mishima's politicization was is still far from the fanaticism to which it reached in the second half of the 1960s.

During this period, Mishima added kendo training to his bodybuilding studies. Starring in Yasuzo Masumura's film "Karakkaze Yaro" (Produced by Masaichi Nagata, Daiye Studio, 1960), posing for the famous photographer Eiko Hosoe for an album replete with masochistic motives, entitled "Rose Shape" (1963), as well as other means, Mishima purposefully became create in the media a cult of your body, strong and transformed after exhausting training.

Mishima's actions, which had nothing to do with his literary activities, on the one hand, can be assessed as a vulgar flaunting of his own vices, but on the other hand, they allow you to look at Mishima, who saw right through and freely manipulated in his own interests the media mechanisms that unexpectedly received leverage in the post-war years tangible public influence, as a precursor to skillfully forming a favorable image of modern pop idols and "stars" of show business.

In addition, this period is characterized by numerous performances of productions of Mishima's dramatic works, as well as the popularization of his work in Europe and America, thanks to translations into European languages ​​that began to appear in print.

Among those who contributed to the expansion of Mishima's readership were the famous American Japanese scholars Donald Keene and Edward Seidensticker. Since that time, Mishima's works have received worldwide fame and are highly praised by critics in the West.

In 1965, the serial journal publication of the novel Spring Snow began, which continued until 1967, the first part devoted to the interpretation of the Buddhist concept of the cycle of human existence in the tetralogy Sea of ​​Abundance, conceived by Mishima as the work of his entire life.

In the same year, the play "The Marquise de Sade" was published. The last period of Mishima's life includes several consecutive nominations for Mishima's candidacy for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

During these years, Mishima wrote and staged (with the author himself in the title role) "Patriotism" (1965), published "Voices of the Spirits of Heroes" (1966) and the second volume of "Sea of ​​Plenty" (1967-1968), which was called "Carrying Horses", as well as numerous other works praising heroic death and emphasizing the inextricability of the connection between aesthetic beauty and politically charged actions.

In December 1966, Mishima met the editor of the nationalist magazine Spor. A close relationship developed between Mishima and a group of magazine activists, prompting him to create his own paramilitary group.

The first steps towards its implementation were the personal entry of Mishima into the self-defense forces and the flight on the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter fighter, as well as the beginning of the formation of a group based on the participants of the Spor magazine.

At the same time, Mishima became close to Kiyokatsu Yamamoto, the commander of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. The politically engaged "Sun and Steel", "My Hagakure", "In Defense of Culture" and other publicistic works were published.

In 1968, the publication of The Temple at Dawn, the third volume of Mishima's tetralogy, began, as well as the play My Friend Hitler. On November 3 of the same year, the Shield Society paramilitary group was formed from the Spor magazine activists.

In 1969, Mishima turned to writing plays for the kabuki theater and published several works in this genre. During the student unrest, Mishima visited the University of Tokyo, captured by students, where he took part in a fierce discussion about the place of the emperor and the state structure; Mishime's opponent was Masahiko Akuta, who at that time was a student at the University of Tokyo.

Once again starring in a movie, Mishima played a role in the film "Murder" directed by Hideo Gosha, where Shintaro Katsu, Yujiro Ishihara and Tatsuya Nakadai also participated.

Due to disagreements related to the financing of the military expenses of the Shield Society, Mishima stopped working with the Spor magazine, but the member of the Japanese student league Masakatsu Morita remained in the Shield Society, who was destined to play a key role in the events that followed. ending with the death of Mishima.

On November 25, 1970, under the pretext of an official visit, having visited the Ichigaya ground forces base with Morita and three other members of the Shield Society, Mishima, taking the base commander hostage, from the balcony of his office appealed to the soldiers to carry out a coup d'état.

However, the theatrical coup attempt was largely ignored by the audience, after which Mishima committed suicide by committing seppuku.

On the morning of November 25, before traveling to Ichigaya, Mishima sent his editor (Chikako Kojima) the text of the novel "The Fall of an Angel", which became the last volume of the tetralogy "Sea of ​​Plenty" and the last work of Mishima in general.

Novels and stories
* Confession of a Mask (1949, Russian translation 1994)
* Thirst for love (1950, Russian translation 2000)
* Forbidden Colors (Forbidden Pleasures) (1954, Russian translation 2005)
* Noise of the surf (1954, Russian translation 2004)
* Golden Temple (1956, Russian translation 1989)
* Kyoko House (1959)
* After the banquet (1960)
* Beautiful Star (1962)
* Silk and Discernment (1964)
* Sea of ​​abundance (tetralogy):
* Spring Snow (1968, Russian translation 2003)
* Carrying Horses (1969, Russian translation 2004)
* Temple at Dawn (1969, Russian translation 2005)
* Fall of an Angel (1970, Russian translation 2006)

Plays
* Her Highness Aoi (1955, Russian translation 2004)
* Marquise de Sade (1965, Russian translation 2000)
* My friend Hitler (1968, Russian translation 2000)
* Handan pillow
* Headstone Komachi
* Brocade drum
* Fan in pledge of love

Novellas
* Patriotism (1960, Russian translation 2000)
* Death in the middle of summer (1966, Russian translation 2000)
* Newspaper
* Sorrel flowers
* Sea and sunset
* Philosophical diary of a maniac killer who lived in the Middle Ages
* Love of the holy elder from Shiga temple

Essay
* Sun and Steel (1965, Russian translation 1999)
* Voices of the spirits of heroes / (1966, Russian translation 2002)
* In Defense of Culture (1968, Russian translation 2002)
* Wang Yangming's Teachings as a Revolutionary Philosophy / (1970, Russian translation 2002)

Yukio Mishima - photo

Yukio Mishima - quotes

There are times when it is better to say: "I am crazy" - otherwise it is impossible to bear and understand oneself.

A woman has not yet been born that a man could deceive.

When planning the happiness of another, we unconsciously ascribe to him what we ourselves dream of, taking this as the fulfillment of his happy hopes.

What an amazing thing - wonderful music! The fleeting beauty generated by the performer's art turns a short period of time into infinity; it cannot be reproduced exactly; like the existence of one-day moths, it is a purely conventional concept and at the same time an integral part of being. There is nothing closer to life than music.

Happiness is a perishable product. It must be consumed immediately before it disappears.

MISIMA, YUKIO(real name Hiraoka Kimitake) (1925-1970) - Japanese writer, playwright, theater and film director, actor. The author of 40 novels, 15 of which were filmed during his lifetime, as well as many plays, short stories, several volumes of literary essays. Three times he was included in the lists of candidates for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Born in Tokyo on January 14, 1925, the son of a major government official. From infancy, he was brought up in the house of his grandmother - he grew up as a quiet, reserved child, was deprived of games with peers. In 1931, under the patronage of his grandfather, the former governor of Southern Sakhalin, he was admitted to the privileged Gakusyuin school, where children of noble families, including the imperial one, studied.

In 1941, on the eve of Japan's entry into World War II, at the age of 16, he wrote his first work - a romantic story Blooming forest imbued with an alarming sense of the inevitability of the oncoming war. The experience of beauty is exacerbated against the background of the threat of destruction of the country and its unique culture. Already in the first book, a motive appears, variations of which are found more than once in his future works - the idea that beauty and death are the main concepts that determine the essence of life. Then he takes the pseudonym Mishima Yukio, henceforth all his works will be signed with this name. In September 1944, after graduating from school with honors, he was invited to the Imperial Palace - Emperor Hirahito awarded him a watch.

In 1944-1947 he studied at the School of Law at the Tokyo Imperial University. In 1945 he evades conscription under the pretext of poor health. After graduating from university, he receives a prestigious position in the Ministry of Finance. Mishima's youth and student years fell on the war years - from 1941 Tokyo was subjected to American bombings, in 1945 they become daily. Destruction and death are the everyday impressions of a sensitive Tokyo youth. The defeat of the country in the war could not but affect his attitude. Perhaps these difficult impressions became an unconscious source for Mishima of destructive mental tendencies and, in particular, an obsession with the idea of ​​death and its role in the universe.

In September 1948 he enters into a publishing contract to write a novel. In 1949 after the release Confessions of a mask he becomes famous. The novel is written in the biographical genre traditional for Japan. It begins with an epigraph from Brothers Karamazov F.M. Dostoevsky, whose work had a great influence on Mishima. The 24-year-old author dispassionately dissects his own feelings and youthful experiences. It turns out that the inner world of a quiet, sickly teenager is torn apart by sado-masochistic inclinations and homosexual complexes. His hero discovers that he is able to feel himself really living, only indulging in bloody dreams of torment and death: “I desperately want to kill someone, I long to see the red blood. Someone writes about love, because he has no success with women, but I write novels so as not to earn a death sentence. " This autobiographical and shockingly frank work can be considered the key to understanding most of the actions of the author and his life in general: "... life is a stage ... I ... was firmly convinced of the immutability of this truth and intended to play the role assigned to me, never revealing my essence" ...

As identified by Mishima himself in a later essay Sun and steel, he wrote in the genre of "critical confession", considering it a kind of confessional prose on a par with critical essay. The most famous novels are written in this genre. Confession mask and Golden temple... In his early works, Mishima's confessionality is characterized by the motive of analyzing inferiority complexes and guilt in front of the world, beautiful in its "completeness".

The novel that made Mishima famous Confession mask becomes a reason for breaking up with his family - before starting work on this work, Mishima resigns from the Ministry of Finance, where he served as a lawyer. He chose the unsteady path of writing over the career of a government official.

The 1960s for Mishima became a period of throwing, searching for oneself in literature, drama, travel and sports. In 1951 the novel is published Thirst for love, later included by UNESCO in the list of the collection of masterpieces of Japanese literature. This is the story of the evolution of the feelings of a young widow towards a young gardener. The action develops slowly, the emotional experiences of the heroes are revealed in detail. After this book, Mishima gained a reputation as a master of psychological prose.

In 1952, making his first trip around the world, the 27-year-old writer finds himself in Greece, which makes a real revolution in his soul. In marble statues of ancient gods and athletes, Mishima discovers a new "immortality of beauty". A sick, sickly young man, possessed by dark visions, is irresistibly attracted to the sun, physical and mental health, harmony of body and soul. “Greece healed me from self-hatred, from loneliness and awakened in me a thirst for health in the Nietzschean sense,” Mishima later wrote.

A novel was written based on the impressions of a trip to Greece Sound of the sea(1954) - his lightest book, filled with bright sunlight. It describes the romantic love story of modern-day Daphnis and Chloe, a young fisherman and a diving girl, who met on a small island. Never - neither before nor after - Mishima wrote so simply and poetically about normal, healthy human feeling. Young heroes are in complete harmony with the sea, the sun - the whole world around them. The author specifically stipulates that the fisherman Shinji "never once thought about death", i.e. was the complete opposite of the author himself. Deprived of even the shadow of perversity, history has become a hymn to life. An entry in the writer's diary dates back to this time: "my thoughts about death were overgrown with ivy, like an old castle in which no one else lives." Sound of the sea enjoyed tremendous success and was filmed a few months after its release.

At the same time, Mishima was seized by the idea that "to create a beautiful work of art and to become beautiful yourself are one and the same." He decides to "create his complete opposite" out of himself - both physically and spiritually. At least for the first part of this task, Mishima took up with his usual purposefulness. Starting with swimming, he then moves on to bodybuilding, saber fencing "kendo" and karate. After several years of training in the gym, a miracle happened - his body became strong, beautiful and agile. Mishima's achievements in sports were amazing, he was very proud of them. When a 1963 article on bodybuilding in an encyclopedia provided him with a photograph, he confessed that it was "the happiest moment of his life." The experience of physical self-improvement is partially described in the essay Sun and steel.

At the same time, Mishima shows his friends his pseudonym, written in other hieroglyphs, which meant: "Enchanted by Death-Devil." In his new work, he again returns to his favorite theme - death and beauty. The basis of the novel Golden temple(1956) put the real fact of burning a Buddhist monastery by a novice six years before this ancient Kyoto temple Kinkakuji. In the book, the temple becomes a symbol of a self-sufficient and beautiful world, next to which there is no place for beings entangled in their inner quests. Offering his version of what happened - the book leaves the impression of a documentary narration - the author consistently describes the stages of the hero's spiritual path up to the moment when he comes to the conclusion that the death of the beautiful makes the beautiful even more perfect. Beauty is viewed as a kind of absolute, striving for which is the duty of the creator, but the fulfillment of this duty is suicidal, since this completes the realization of creativity.

Another hero, actor Osamu from the novel Kyoko House(1959), who committed suicide with his mistress, expounds an “aesthetic” formula for death close to existentialism: “the desire for death made him furiously strive for new masks, because, gaining them, he became more and more beautiful. It should be understood that a man has a thirst to become more beautiful of a completely different nature than a woman: a man always has a desire for death. "

In addition to the works mentioned, Mishima wrote many other novels: Secret pleasure,White Nights,Red Planet,Young time,Forbidden color,Waterfall,Silk and bright hopes,Fun beasts,After the banquet etc., as well as novels, collections of stories, essays, etc.

He was also fond of theater. In the 1950s, an interest in national forms of classical drama was revived in Japan. Between 1950 and 1955, Mishima created mask plays in the noo theater style: Last vow night,Night orchid,Blind youth,Frozen in delight,Fan in pledge of love,Princess of the Lunar Laurel,Kiss mask and others. In an effort to revive the elegant and sophisticated world of traditional Japanese culture, he reminded of the aristocratic art of the 14-16 centuries.

The only event in the noo plays is the meeting of the characters. As a rule, these plays are one act and, as it were, fall into two parts. In the first, the character appears in front of the viewer in the form of a person of low origin, and in the second - in his true guise, and then it turns out that before the gaze of the audience there was a ghost or a spirit tormented by passion. The action of Mishima's miniatures takes place in modern Tokyo - in a park, a mental hospital, in an artist's apartment, etc. But his plays retain the mood and spirit of classic dramas about demons and insane people, captivated by one overwhelming feeling.

In a play-mask Fan in pledge of love the girl, who lost her mind because of love, did not recognize her lover when he found her, because the dream of love is infinitely more beautiful than love itself. In the play Night orchid a psychiatric nurse discusses with visitors about the need to restrain sexual desires. Abandoned and forgotten because of her cruelty, the former famous beauty is doomed to poverty and vegetation ( Last vow night). The heroes of Mishima are possessed by one passion brought to the limit, it also leads them to a deep life crisis. In the plays of Mishima noo, the strangeness, perversion of a person, confusion and horror at the endless silence of the universe come to life.

In 1955 the play Princess of the Lunar Laurel was delivered according to all the rules of traditional noo. Against the background of numerous performances in the spirit of overseas borrowings, where sex, sports and striptease reigned, she was perceived as a challenge. At the same time in the West in the middle of the 20th century. the ancient art of noo was perceived as an extremely modern trend, close to the western avant-garde. It is no coincidence that Genet, Beckett, Claudel, Brecht and others were fond of him.

In addition to miniatures, Yukio Mishima also wrote multi-act works for the stage: Night sunflower,Termite mound,Rokumeikan salon,Rose and pirate, Room key, Some joy,Tropical tree,Fall of the Suzaku House and others. Some of his dramatic works were based on plots from Western history - My friend Hitler,Marquis de Sade... Until now, performances based on the works of Mishima have not left the stage of Japanese theaters, as well as theaters in Europe and the United States. His plays were staged in Russia My friend Hitler,Marquis de Sade,Brocade drum, however, they were delivered 25 years after they were written.

Yukio Mishima's desire to realize himself acquired the character of an all-consuming passion. In addition to his frenzied literary studies, he acted as a theater and film director, actor and even conductor of a symphony orchestra. He tried himself in different directions - he flew a combat fighter, circled the globe several times, visited gay clubs on Ginza, although he was married, was a fifth dan in the art of kendo fencing, and so on. Taking up any occupation, he was so fond of it that sometimes he reached generally recognized heights in it.

Throughout his life, Mishima had the deepest interest and respect for the samurai worldview, trying to comprehend and feel his philosophy. If in the novel Patriotism this understanding is still superficial and formal, then later essays ( Hero voices,Appeal to young samurai etc.) is completely imbued with the samurai spirit. Mishima considered it his duty to write a book of commentaries on the Hagakure samurai code - Hagakure Nyumon: An Introduction to Hagakure - Samurai Ethics in Modern Japan... He was seriously carried away by the idea of ​​reviving samurai traditions, linking ethics of behavior and aesthetic principles into one whole, which corresponded to his idea of ​​a perfect person.

In the 1960s, the desire to revive national traditions pushed Mishima to participate in military-patriotic demonstrations. In 1966, he publicly declared his solidarity with the right-wing radicals, and joined the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.

In his political views, he was a monarchist, a supporter of traditional values, an opponent of the "peaceful" constitution, according to which Japan had no right to have its own army, but only self-defense forces. In 1968 he created the militarized ultra-right student organization Tate no kai - the Shield Society. Yukio Mishima was its leader and maintained at his own expense. Under his leadership, special instructors taught young people how to handle weapons, national types of wrestling, here they deeply studied ancient and new samurai literature. The organization had its own symbols and uniforms.

The phenomenon of Mishima cannot be viewed otherwise than through the prism of the last day of his life, when he actually staged his own suicide in the spirit of the samurai tradition close to him. Suicide is not uncommon among the creative professions, including in Japan. Thus, the playwright Kato Michio committed suicide in 1953; after the book was written Confession of an "inferior" person, the writer Osamu Dazai committed suicide, etc. The question of what drives the suicide more in such cases - despair or the desire to carry out a spectacular artistic or political gesture, remains open.

On the morning of November 25, 1970, the day Mishima finished his novel Fall of an angel, included in the large-scale tetralogy Sea of ​​abundance begun 4 years ago, after a light breakfast, he donned the Shield Society uniform and strapped an antique samurai sword to his belt. I wrote a note: “Human life is not unlimited, but I want to live forever. Mishima Yukio ". Downstairs in the car, four Shield Society associates were waiting for him. At about 11 a.m., they arrived at the headquarters of the Eastern District of the Self-Defense Forces at the Ichigaya military base in Tokyo. The headquarters were warned about the visit. Mishima, a well-known traditionalist writer, was a highly respected guest, so he was not required to unfasten his weapon.

The adjutant escorted the writer to the district commander, General Kenri Masita. He, having greeted, asked why he had a sword. “Don't worry, this is just a 16th century museum relic from the Seki school. Take a look at the finish, ”Mishima replied. When the general bent over the sword, at the command of Mishima, one of his men rushed at the commander - he was tied to a chair and the door was barricaded. Sensing something was wrong, the military outside the door tried to enter. But armed with a sword, Mishima promised to kill the general. He stated his demands - to line up on the parade ground the units of the self-defense forces stationed nearby, as well as detachments of members of the "Shield Society" - his ultimatum was accepted. At 11.38, the police arrived, scattered around the building, but there was no rush to arrest the rebels. At that time, from the balcony of the headquarters, Mishima's people were throwing leaflets with his text, where he called on the self-defense forces to take power in the country and demand a revision of the peaceful constitution. The leaflet ended with the words: “Do you really value only life and let the spirit die? .. We will show you that there is a value greater than our life. This is not freedom or democracy. This is Japan! Japan. A country of history and traditions. The Japan We Love ”.

At 12:00 sharp, Mishima appeared on the balcony, wearing a white bandage with a red circle of the rising sun on his head, and blood stains on his white gloves. Mishima addressed the soldiers with the words: “... Today the Japanese think only about money ... Where is our national spirit? .. You must rise up to protect Japan. Japanese traditions! History! Culture! Emperor! .. You are soldiers. Why are you defending a constitution that denies your very existence? Why don't you wake up? .. "

He was booed. Realizing that the calls were in vain, Mishima shouted three times "Long live the emperor!" and returned to the room. “There is only one thing left for us,” he said to his comrades. Disgraced, the samurai is obliged to die - the formal reason for suicide was received by Mishima. In accordance with samurai tradition, he unbuttoned his uniform and stabbed himself with a sword. Then his companion Morita took the sword. According to tradition, he had to cut off Mishima's head, which he succeeded only on the third attempt. After that, Morita also ripped open his stomach, and his head was cut off by another of his comrades. The police rushed into the room.

Later, the seppuku ceremony was performed by seven more followers of Mishima. After the death of the writer, the "Shield Society" ceased to exist.

The meaning of the seppuku ritual (hara-kiri is a vulgar name for an unsuccessful ritual) is a demonstration of the vassal's boundless loyalty to the lord. In this case, the overlord in whose name Mishima died was the emperor. The death of a samurai should be beautiful, tk. the samurai has no right to drop the dignity of the master. His worthy death testifies to the presence of fortitude until the last moment, since a short volitional impulse is not enough for seppuku - a long, conscious, volitional effort overcoming terrible pain is necessary. By dying, the samurai demonstrates the majestic beauty of death.

Be that as it may, the political motivation for Mishima's suicide is assigned a secondary role - this is evidenced by his entire biography, as well as the "aesthetic" concept of death that he developed, which is largely reflected in his works. He wrote a lot about the role of death in the universe, its philosophy as the last, finishing touch of life. “You have to get used to death,” the heroine from the short story mused. Death in the middle of summer who, by an absurd accident, lost two children at once. - This is no longer a blow of fate, but a useful lesson; not a concrete fact, but an abstract metaphor ... ". In the novel Patriotism Mishima scrupulously describes the voluntary death of a lieutenant of the Imperial Guard and his wife. The details of the methodical preparation for death out of habit are perceived as something repulsive - the author hypnotizes the readers with the demonstrative routine of what is happening, as if he offers to try this situation on to himself and make sure that it’s okay.

If we evaluate the bloody performance "staged" by Mishima from a cultural perspective, he turned the finale of his life into a shocking theatrical action - into a postmodern tragicomedy of the absurd. This is an artistic gesture of a postmodernist who praises lofty national symbols “to death”. The dedication of death to the emperor in 1970 looked anachronistic, as if in Russia of the Brezhnev era, someone had committed suicide with the name of Stalin ... or the sovereign of the emperor on the lips. But perhaps this was the absurdity and tragedy of the action planned by Mishima? Be that as it may, but also as a person fascinated by the samurai culture, and as a creative person - a director and an actor, and as a person who strives to completely subordinate his own life to his personal will, on the last day, Yukio Mishima tasted the taste of absolute freedom.

You can philosophize a lot on the topic of why the death instinct prevails in one person as the main life vector, while in the other - the life instinct. There is an existential interpretation - the deeper a person feels the presence of death nearby, the more genuine his existence becomes. Overcoming the desire for death becomes an impulse for self-expression and self-improvement. Rejection of one's existence, as not corresponding to the ideal, can also become a reason for voluntary death.

What did Mishima see the beauty of death? If beauty is harmony, why did death seem to him more harmonious than life? Death is a return to an inorganic state; it is certainty, completeness, clarity and peace, it captures and sums up life. Life is eternal throwing and pain, the search for beauty that is subject to inevitable destruction. For self-destruction to have a metaphysical meaning, the object of destruction (he is also its subject in the case of self-destruction) must first become perfect. And since, as noted by the famous Japanese scholar Donald Keane: "He himself became the most perfect work of Mishima's art," Mishima destroyed himself as his "most perfect" work.

In the case of Mishima, it is possible to talk about the role of neurosis or personal accentuation. In his case, it is heightened sensitivity, which was superimposed on painful youthful impressions, which struck his imagination to the extreme. As Karen Horney noted, a neurotic personality in the 20th century. it is peculiar to weave into the experience of his personal problems the contradictions of the world around him. Perhaps Mishima's personal desire for death coincided with a sense of the end of Japanese culture and the collapse of traditional values.

There is an opinion that the change in the role of the nation state and the acquisition of new levels of identity in transnational spaces deprives people of their national and cultural identity. As culturologists note, those who do not feel that they have entered the global world have a loss of self-esteem and a sense of the inner significance of their national identity. Those who already consider themselves the subject of global processes are showing an increasing interest in local and national phenomena. Perhaps the tragedy of Yukio Mishima was a reflection of the drama of the culture of traditional Japanese society entering the context of broader social and cultural realities.

Be that as it may, Mishima's books are published in thousands of copies and are deservedly popular all over the world. His name is ranked among the most famous Japanese writers of the second half of the 20th century. - Kobo Abe, Yasunari Kawabatoy and Kenzaburo Oe.

Compositions: The fan is a guarantee of love. Pieces-masks in the style of noo theater... M., Ripol Classic, 2003; Thirst for love... SPb, Azbuka, 2000; Golden temple... SPb, Azbuka, 2002.

Irina Ermakova