I’ve been interested in reading John Nathan’s biography of Yukio Mishima, Mishima, for two reasons: 1) The man is interesting in his sum total of contradictions 2) It was the source material for Paul Schrader’s film. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, which I have been writing an essay about. Although Schrader has borrowed and developed many of the themes from the novel as well as reproducing some of the photos that accompany it-it was some of the details in the book that really captured my attention.
For example, I found it interesting that Nathan used “expansion
into China” to describe Japanese imperialism early in the book. The book was
first published in 1974, so I wonder if Nathan was shying away from controversy
or was he sympathetic to writing about Japan in a positive light? Later, Nathan
reports that Mishima’s mother’s parents had a packed a “bridal dagger” in her
dowry chest-which symbolizes that she must kill herself rather than return home
if he married fails-this strikes me as unsympathetic and barbaric especially
since the daughter has no choice in the arranged marriage. I also found
Mishima’s horrifically stunted childhood abhorrent as his grandmother smothered
him and his father was completely against his desire to become a writer and
actively sought to force him into a career path as a bureaucrat. This included
limited play (only inside), play only with girls, he had to massage and give
his grandmother her medicine, and he was basically in an in-house abduction
from his parents until he was 12. Mishima’s life in general was analogous to
Japanese postwar development-he gradually built his success as Japan, itself
developed economically into a power. There are a couple of other interesting details.
One where Mishima travels to Brazil and he finds wealthy Brazilian Nisei farmers
arguing in 1951 about whether or not Japan won the war! Mishima sides with
those who suggest victory! It was curious that Nathan describes
Mishima as dressing “Roman drugstore cowboy” in 1974. All in all, it is an interesting biography that
steers clear of literary analysis unless it reflects the many contradictions of
Mishima, and focuses on the life that had been lived. It is a fascinating read.
Comments