Yukio Mishima was one of the most influential Japanese writers of the 20th century
And was considered for the Nobel Prize three times
Mishima didn’t allow the political views he expressed in his books to remain in his books
He led and lost his life trying to establish what he believed in
Mishima was separated from his family at a very young age and lived with his grandmother
His grandma wasn’t the kind of grandma that would give you cookies all the time
And make more food than you really need
She was the kind of grandma that was often violent, didn’t let you leave the house
And made you play only with your female cousins and their dolls
Fair to say he didn’t know much about football
But who cares when you can make a perfect French braid on a Barbie doll
At the age of 12, Mishima returned to his original family and had already started writing
He was mostly writing poems at this time. Meanwhile his dad, a man with a soft spot for military discipline
Belonged to the infamous "poetry is gay" artistic school of thought. So he tried to put some masculinity into Mishima
By destroying his writing and holding him up against a speeding train
Mishima was drafted for the Japanese army at the beginning of WWII
But had a cold when he went for a medical checkup
The army called Doctor Drama and he claimed it was not a cold but tuberculosis
So Mishima wasn’t able to take part in the war
After the war, Japan really wanted the others to forget that they were allied with the Nazis
And wanted to convince everyone Japan was just a country of fun-loving people
Who make origami and water bonsai trees all day
This was strongly against Mishima’s patriotism and his pride of Japan’s tradition
You know, the samurai and shoguns, not flashing billboards in English
Mishima had an option to marry Michiko Shoda, who later married another guy and is now known as Empress Michiko
Well, I guess she’s not crying herself to sleep because Mishima swiped left
Instead, he got married with another lady and had two children, which didn’t succeed in stopping the rumors
That he was visiting gay bars and was indeed a homosexual
It would be cynical of us to go back now to his father’s views on poetry, but, thankfully, we won’t do it
Having been let down by the westernization of Japan, Mishima formed Tatenokai, or the Shield Society
A private militia consistent of around 100 students who were devoted to returning Japan to its former ways
Mishima followed Bushido, the code of the samurai, and was hated by both the left and the right
In 1970, at the age of 45, Mishima, with four other members of the Tatenokai
Went to the office of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and tied down the commander
Mishima went to the balcony and held a speech in front of the soldiers, wanting to initiate a coup
Disappointingly, the soldiers mocked Mishima and booed him off the stage
Mishima then went back, wrote his death poem and prepared himself for hara-kiri
He sat down, stabbed himself in the stomach and waited for the second part of the ritual - a decapitation
Now, to nicely cut off someone’s head you need a sharp blade, a steady arm and one swift blow
Morita, who was Mishima’s designated head cutter had only one
So, yeah, things got really awkward and messy
Now after more than a few tries, another guy, Koga, took the sword from Morita
And managed to kill Mishima in his first try
Embarrassed with his performance, Morita kneeled down next to Mishima and committed hara-kiri as well
With Koga now decapitating two of his friends
On the day he was just supposed to be an uncredited member of the audience