My mind just rememberd it out of nowhere. I have actually always been very puzzled how this guy won the nobel prize for literature. I have read other books by the guy who wrote Musashi (Taikan?) and he was just flat out a better writer with a uch mroe powerful philosophy than Yukio Mishima. From Japan anyway. Yukio Mishama bio below Mushashi. where it belongs-lol. My daughter named her dog Otsu-lol.
Miyamoto Musashi
(?? ??)
Miyamoto Musashi in his prime, wielding two bokken.
Born Shinmen Musashi No Kami Fujiwara No Genshin
c. June 13, 1584(1584-06-13)
Harima Province, Japan
Died c. June 13, 1645 (aged 61)
Higo Province, Japan
from natural causes (probably stomach cancer)
Residence Japan
Other names Shinmen Takezo; Miyamoto Bennosuke; Niten Doraku; Shinmen Musashi no Kami Fujiwara no Genshin
Martial art practiced Kenjutsu, Jujutsu
Teacher(s) none verified
Notable students Terao Magonojo; Terao Motomenosuke; Furuhashi Sozaemon
In this Japanese name, the family name is Miyamoto.
Miyamoto Musashi (?? ??, Miyamoto Musashi?) (c. 1584–June 13 (Japanese calendar: May 19), 1645), also known as Shinmen Takezo, Miyamoto Bennosuke, or by his Buddhist name Niten Doraku[1], was a Japanese swordsman famed for his duels and distinctive style. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became legendary through his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age. He was the founder of the Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu or Niten-ryu style of swordsmanship and the author of The Book of Five Rings (???, Go Rin No Sho?), a book on strategy, tactics, and philosophy that is still studied today.
The details of Miyamoto Musashi's early life are difficult to verify. Musashi himself simply states in Gorin no Sho that he was born in Harima Province.[2] Niten Ki (an early biography of Musashi) supports the theory that Musashi was born in 1584: "[He] was born in Banshu, in Tensho 12 [1584], the Year of the Monkey."[3] The historian Kamiko Tadashi, commenting on Musashi's text, notes: "[...]Munisai was Musashi's father...he lived in Miyamoto village, in the Yoshino district [of Mimasaka Province]. Musashi was most probably born here."[4] His childhood name was Bennosuke ???.
Musashi gives his full name and title in Gorin no Sho as "Shinmen Musashi no Kami Fujiwara no Genshin."[5] His father, Shinmen Munisai ?????, was an accomplished martial artist and master of the sword and jutte.[6] Munisai, in turn, was the son of Hirata Shogen ????, a vassal of Shinmen Iga no Kami, the lord of Takeyama Castle, in the Yoshino district of Mimasaka Province.[7] Hirata was relied upon by Lord Shinmen, and so was allowed to use the Shinmen name. As for "Musashi," Musashi no Kami was a court title, making him the nominal governor of Musashi province. "Fujiwara" was the lineage from which Musashi claimed nominal descent.
[edit] Munisai and Musashi's birth date
Mysteriously, Munisai's tomb says he died in 1580, which obviously conflicts with the accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi. Further muddying the waters, according to the genealogy of the extant Miyamoto family, Musashi was born in 1582. Kenji Tokitsu has suggested that the accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi is wrong, as it is primarily based on a literal reading of the introduction to the Go Rin No Sho where Musashi states that the years of his life "add up to 60" (yielding the twelfth year of the Tensho era, or 1584, when working backwards from the well-documented date of composition), when it should be taken in a more literary and imprecise sense, indicating not a specific age but merely that Musashi was in his sixties when he wrote it.
Because of the uncertainty centering around Munisai (when he died, whether he was truly Musashi's father, etc.), Musashi's mother is known with even less confidence. Here are a few possibilities:
Munisai's tomb was correct. He died in 1580, leaving two daughters; his wife adopted a recently born child, from the Akamatsu clan, intended to succeed Munisai at his jitte school. Omasa, Munisai's widow, was not truly Musashi's mother.
The tomb was wrong. Munisai lived a good deal longer, later than 1590 possibly. Musashi, then, was born to Munisai's first wife, Yoshiko (daughter to Bessho Shigeharu, who formerly controlled Hirafuku village until he lost a battle in 1578 to Yamanaka Shikanosuke). Munisai divorced her after Musashi's birth, whereupon she decamped for her father's house, leaving Musashi with Munisai. Musashi grew up treating Munisai's second wife, Omasa (daughter to Lord Shinmen) as his mother. This second scenario is laid out in an entry to the Tasumi family's genealogy:
:
The daughter of Bessho Shigeharu first married Hirata Muni and was divorced from him a few years later. After that she married Tasumi Masahisa. The second wife of Tasumi Masahisa was the mother of Miyamoto Musashi. Musashi's childhood name was Hirata Den. He later became famous on account of his swordsmanship. During his childhood, he went to Hirafuku to find his real mother. He moved in with the Tasumi family.
—[8]
A variant of this second theory is based on the fact that the tombstone states that Omasa gave birth to Musashi on 4 March 1584, and died of it. Munisai then remarried to Yoshiko. They divorced, as in the second theory, but Yoshiko took Musashi with her, and married Tasumi Masahisa.
Kenji Tokitsu prefers to assume a birth date of 1581, which avoids the necessity of assuming the tombstone to be erroneous (although this poses the problem of from whom then Musashi received the transmission of the family martial art).
[edit] Upbringing
Regardless of the truth about Musashi's ancestry, when Musashi was seven years old, the boy was raised by his uncle, Dorinbo (or Dorin), in Shoreian temple, three kilometers (~1.8 mi.) from Hirafuku. Both Dorin and Musashi's uncle by marriage - Tasumi - educated him in Buddhism and basic skills such as writing and reading. This education is possibly the basis for Yoshikawa Eiji's fictional education of Musashi by the historical Zen monk Takuan. He was apparently trained by Munisai in the sword, and in the family art of the jitte. This training did not last for a very long time, as in 1589, Munisai was ordered by Shinmen Sokan to kill Munisai's student, Honiden Gekinosuke. The Honiden family was displeased, and so Munisai was forced to move four kilometers (~2.5 mi.) away to the village of Kawakami.
In 1592, Munisai died, although Tokitsu believes that the person who died at this time was really Hirata Takehito.
Musashi contracted eczema in his infancy, and this adversely affected his appearance.[citation needed] Another story claims that he never took a bath because he did not want to be surprised unarmed. While the former claim may or may not have some basis in reality, the latter seems improbable.[9] An unwashed member of the warrior caste would not have been received as a guest by such famous houses as Honda, Ogasawara and Hosokawa. These and many other details are likely embellishments that were added to his legend, or misinterpretations of literature describing him.
His father's fate is uncertain, but it is thought that he died at the hands of one of Musashi's later adversaries, who was punished or even killed for treating Musashi's father badly. However, there are no exact details of Musashi's life, since Musashi's only writings are those related to strategy and technique.
[edit] Training in swordsmanship
Miyamoto Musashi having his fortune told. Print by Utagawa KuniyoshiThe name "Musashi" was thought to be taken from the name of a warrior monk named Musashibo Benkei who served under Minamoto no Yoshitsune, but this is unconfirmed. In any case, the name seems fitting, particularly when comparing the level of mastery of weaponry - both being able to masterfully use nine or more weapons.
It's said that he may have studied at the Yoshioka ryu school, which was also said to be a school Musashi defeated single-handedly during his later years, although this is uncertain. Ultimately the name was taken from his own original kanji, ??, which can be read as Takezo or as Musashi, as stated in Eiji Yoshikawa's book Musashi.
[edit] First duel
I have trained in the way of strategy since my youth, and at the age of thirteen I fought a duel for the first time. My opponent was called Arima Kihei, a sword adept of the Shinto ryu, and I defeated him. At the age of sixteen I defeated a powerful adept by the name of Akiyama, who came from Tajima Province. At the age of twenty-one I went up to Kyoto and fought duels with several adepts of the sword from famous schools, but I never lost.
—Miyamoto Musashi, Go Rin No Sho
According to the introduction of The Book of Five Rings, Musashi states that his first successful duel was at the age of thirteen, against a samurai named Arima Kihei who fought using the Kashima Shinto-ryu style, founded by Tsukahara Bokuden (b. 1489, d. 1571). The main source of the duel is the Hyoho senshi denki ("Anecdotes about the Deceased Master"). Summarized, its account goes as follows:
In 1596, Musashi was 13, and Arima Kihei, who was traveling to hone his art, posted a public challenge in Hirafuku-mura. Musashi wrote his name on the challenge. A messenger came to Dorin's temple, where Musashi was staying, to inform Musashi that his duel had been accepted by Kihei. Dorin, Musashi's uncle, was shocked by this, and tried to beg off the duel in Musashi's name, based on his nephew's age. Kihei was adamant that the only way his honor could be cleared was if Musashi apologized to him when the duel was scheduled. So when the time set for the duel arrived, Dorin began apologizing for Musashi, who merely charged at Kihei with a six-foot quarterstaff, shouting a challenge to Kihei. Kihei attacked with a wakizashi, but Musashi threw Kihei on the floor, and while Kihei tried to get up, Musashi struck Arima between the eyes and then beat him to death. Arima was said to have been arrogant, overly eager to fight, and not a terribly talented swordsman.
—William Scott Wilson, The Lone Samurai[10]
The duel is odd for a number of reasons, not least of which is why Musashi was permitted to duel Arima, whether the apology was a ruse, and why Arima was there in the first place.
[edit] Travels and duels
In 1599, three years later, Musashi left his village, apparently at the age of 15 (according to the Tosakushi, "The Registry of the Sakushu Region", although the Tanji Hokin Hikki says he was 16 years old in 1599).[8] His family possessions such as furniture, weapons, genealogy, and other records were left with his sister and her husband, Hirao Yoemon.
He spent his time traveling and engaging in duels, such as with an adept called Akiyama from the Tajima Province.
In 1600, a war began between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans. Musashi apparently fought on the side of the Toyotomi's "Army of the West", as the Shinmen clan (to whom his family owed allegiance) had allied with them. Specifically, he participated in the attempt to take Fushimi castle by assault in July 1600, in the defense of the besieged Gifu Castle in August of the same year, and finally in the famed Battle of Sekigahara. Some doubt has been cast on this final battle, as the Hyoho senshi denki has Musashi saying he is "no lord's vassal" and refusing to fight with his father (in Lord Ukita's battalion) in the battle. Omitting the Battle of Sekigahara from the list of Musashi's battles would seem to contradict the Go Rin No Sho's statement that Musashi fought in six battles, however. Regardless, as the Toyotomi side lost, it has been suggested that Musashi fled as well and spent some time training on Mount Hiko.
Ichijoji Sagarimatsu, Location of the battle between Musashi and the Yoshioka schoolAfter the battle, Musashi disappears from the records for a while. The next mention of him has him arriving in Kyoto at the age of 20 (or 21), where he famously began a series of duels against the Yoshioka School. Musashi's father, Munisai, also fought against a master of the Yoshioka school and won 2 out of 3 bouts in front of the shogun at the time, Ashikaga Yoshiaki who granted him the title of "Best in Japan". The Yoshioka School (descended from either the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu or the Kyo-hachi-ryu) was the foremost of the eight major schools of martial arts in Kyoto, the "Kyo-ryu" / "Schools of Kyoto". Legend has it that these eight schools were founded by eight monks taught by a legendary martial artist resident on the sacred Mount Kurama. At some point, the Yoshioka family also began to make a name for itself not merely in the art of the sword but also in the textile business and for a dye unique to them. They gave up teaching swordsmanship in 1614 when they fought in the Army of the West against Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Battle of Osaka, which they lost. But in 1604, when Musashi began duelling them, they were still preeminent. There are various accounts of the duels — the Yoshioka family documents claim that there was only one, against Yoshioka Kenpo, which Musashi lost.
Musashi challenged Yoshioka Seijuro, master of the Yoshioka School, to a duel. Seijuro accepted, and they agreed to a duel outside Rendaiji in Rakuhoku, in the northern part of Kyoto on 8 March 1604. Musashi arrived late, greatly irritating Seijuro. They faced off, and Musashi struck a single blow, per their agreement. This blow struck Seijuro on the left shoulder, knocking him out, and crippling his left arm. He apparently passed on the headship of the school to his equally accomplished brother, Yoshioka Denshichiro, who promptly challenged Musashi for revenge. The duel variously took place in Kyoto outside a temple, Sanjusangen-do. Denshichiro wielded a staff reinforced with steel rings (or possibly with a ball-and-chain attached), while Musashi arrived late a second time. Musashi disarmed Denshichiro and defeated him. This second victory outraged the Yoshioka clan, whose head was now the 12-year old Yoshioka Matashichiro. They assembled a force of archers, musketeers and swordsmen, and challenged Musashi to a duel outside Kyoto, near Ichijoji Temple. Musashi broke his previous habit of arriving late, and came to the temple hours early. Hidden, Musashi assaulted the force, killing Matashichiro, and escaping while being attacked by dozens of his victim's supporters. With the death of Matashichiro, this branch of the Yoshioka School was destroyed.
After Musashi left Kyoto, some sources recount that he travelled to Hozoin in Nara, to duel with and learn from the monks there, widely known as experts with lance weapons. There he settled down at Enkoji Temple in Banshu, where he taught the head monk's (one Tada Hanzaburo's) brother. Hanzaburo's grandson would found the Ensu-ryu based on the Enmei-ryu teachings and iaijutsu.
From 1605 to 1612, he travelled extensively all over Japan in Musha Shugyo, a warrior pilgrimage during which he honed his skills with duels. He was said to have used bokken or bokuto in actual duels. Most of the engagements from these times did not try to take the opponent's life unless both agreed, but in most duels, it is known that Musashi did not care which weapon his foe used - such was his mastery.
A document dated 5 September 1607, purporting to be a transmission by Miyamoto Munisai of his teachings, suggests Munisai lived at least to this date. In this year, Musashi departed Nara for Edo, during which he fought (and killed) a kusarigama practitioner named Shishido Baiken. In Edo, Musashi defeated Muso Gonnosuke, who would found an influential staff-wielding school known as Shinto Muso Ryu. Records of this first duel can be found in both the Shinto Muso-ryu tradition and the Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu (Miyamoto Musashi's school). The Shinto Muso Ryu tradition states that, after being defeated by Musashi, Muso Gonnusuke beat Musashi in a rematch. There are no current reliable sources outside the Shinto Muso Ryu tradition to confirm that this second duel took place.
Musashi is said to have fought over 60 duels and was never defeated, although this is a conservative estimate, most likely not accounting for deaths by his hand in major battles. In 1611, Musashi began practicing zazen at the Myoshinji Temple, where he met Nagaoka Sado, vassal to Hosokawa Tadaoki; Tadaoki was a powerful lord who had received the Kumamoto Domain in west-central Kyushu after the Battle of Sekigahara. Munisai had moved to northern Kyushu and became Tadaoki's teacher, leading to the possibility that Munisai introduced the two. Nagaoka proposed a duel with a certain adept named Sasaki Kojiro. Tokitsu believes that the duel was politically motivated, a matter of consolidating Tadaoki's control over his fief.
[edit] Duel with Sasaki Kojiro
Main article: Sasaki Kojiro
In April 13, 1612, Musashi (aged about 30) fought his most famous duel, with Sasaki Kojiro, who wielded a nodachi. Musashi came late and unkempt to the appointed place — the remote island of Funajima, north of Kokura. The duel was short. Musashi killed his opponent with a bokken that he had carved from an oar while traveling to the island. Musashi fashioned it to be longer than the nodachi, making it closer to a modern suburito.
Musashi's late arrival is controversial. Sasaki's outraged supporters thought it was dishonorable and disrespectful while many others[who?] thought it was a fair way to unnerve his opponent. Another theory is that Musashi timed the hour of his arrival to match the turning of the tide. The tide carried him to the island. After his victory, Musashi immediately jumped back in his boat and his flight from Sasaki's vengeful allies was helped by the turning of the tide. Another theory states he waited for the sun to get in the right position. After he dodged a blow Sasaki was blinded by the sun. He briefly established a fencing school that same year.
[edit] Service
In 1614–1615, Musashi participated in the war between the Toyotomi and the Tokugawa. The war had broken out because Tokugawa Ieyasu saw the Toyotomi family as a threat to his rule of Japan; most scholars believe that, as in the previous war, Musashi fought on the Toyotomi side. Osaka Castle was the central place of battle. The first battle (the Winter Battle of Osaka; Musashi's fourth battle) ended in a truce. The second (the Summer Battle of Osaka; Musashi's fifth battle) resulted in the total defeat of Toyotomi Hideyori's Army of the West by Ieyasu's Army of the East in May 1615. Some reports go so far as to say that Musashi entered a duel with Ieyasu, but was recruited after Ieyasu sensed his defeat was at hand. This may seem unlikely since Ieyasu was in his 70s and was in poor health already, but it remains unknown how Musashi came into Ieyasu's good graces.
Other accounts claim he actually served on the Tokugawa side, but such a claim is unproven, although Musashi had a close relationship with some Tokugawa vassals through his duel with Sasaki Kojiro, and in the succeeding years, he did not drop out of sight as might be expected if he were being persecuted for being on the losing side. In his later years, Ogasawara and Hosokawa supported Musashi greatly — an atypical course of action for these Tokugawa loyalists, if Musashi had indeed fought on behalf of the Toyotomi.
In 1615 he entered the service of Ogasawara Tadanao (?????) of Harima Province, at Ogasawara's invitation, as a "Construction Supervisor," after previously gaining skills in craft. He helped construct Akashi Castle and in 1621 to lay out the organization of the town of Himeji. He also taught martial arts during his stay, specializing in instruction in the art of shuriken-throwing. During this period of service, he adopted a son.
In 1621, Musashi defeated Miyake Gunbei and three other adepts of the Togun ryu in front of the lord of Himeji; it was after this victory that he helped plan Himeji. Around this time, Musashi developed a number of disciples for his Enmei-ryu although he had developed the school considerably earlier; at the age of 22, Musashi had already written a scroll of Enmei-ryu teachings called "Writings on the Sword Technique of the Enmei-ryu" (Enmei-ryu kenpo sho). ?/"En" meant "circle" or "perfection"; ?/"mei" meant "light"/"clarity", and ?/"ryu" meant "school"; the name seems to have been derived from the idea of holding the two swords up in the light so as to form a circle. The school's central idea is given as training to use the twin swords of the samurai as effectively as a pair of sword and jitte.
In 1622, Musashi's adoptive son, Miyamoto Mikinosuke, became a vassal to the Himeji Domain. Possibly this prompted Musashi to leave, embarking on a new series of travels, winding up in Edo in 1623, where he became friends with the Confucian scholar Hayashi Razan, who was one of the Shogun's advisors. Musashi applied to become a swordmaster to the Shogun, but as he already had two swordmasters (Ono Jiroemon Tadaaki and Yagyu Munenori - the latter also a political advisor, in addition to his position as the head of the Shogunate's secret police), Musashi's application was denied. He left Edo in the direction of Oshu, ending up in Yamagata, where he adopted a second son, Miyamoto Iori. The two then traveled, eventually stopping in Osaka.
In 1626, Miyamoto Mikinosuke, following the custom of junshi, committed seppuku because of the death of his lord. In this year, Miyamoto Iori entered Lord Ogasawara's service. Musashi's attempt to become a vassal to the lord of Owari, like other such attempts, failed.
In 1627, Musashi began to travel again. In 1634 he settled in Kokura with Iori, and later entered the service of Daimyo Ogasawara Tadazane, taking a major role in the Shimabara Rebellion. Iori served with distinction in putting down the rebellion and gradually rose to the rank of karo — a position equal to a minister. Musashi, however was reputedly injured by a thrown rock while scouting in the front line, and was thus unnoticed.
[edit] Later life and death
Six years later, in 1633, Musashi began staying with Hosokawa Tadatoshi, daimyo of Kumamoto Castle, who had moved to the Kumamoto fief and Kokura, to train and paint. Ironically, it was at this time that the Hosokawa lords were also the patrons of Musashi's chief rival, Sasaki Kojiro. While there he engaged in very few duels; one would occur in 1634 at the arrangement of Lord Ogasawara, in which Musashi defeated a lance specialist by the name of Takada Matabei. Musashi would officially become the retainer of the Hosokowa lords of Kumamoto in 1640. The Niten Ki records "[he] received from Lord Tadatoshi: 17 retainers, a stipend of 300 koku, the rank of okumigashira ???, and Chiba Castle in Kumamoto as his residence."[11]
In the second month of 1641, Musashi wrote a work called the Hyoho Sanju Go ("Thirty-five Instructions on Strategy") for Hosokawa Tadatoshi; this work overlapped and formed the basis for the later Go Rin No Sho. This was the year that his third son, Hirao Yoemon, became Master of Arms for the Owari fief. In 1642, Musashi suffered attacks of neuralgia, foreshadowing his future ill-health. In 1643 he retired to a cave named Reigando as a hermit to write The Book of Five Rings. He finished it in the second month of 1645. On the twelfth of the fifth month, sensing his impending death, Musashi bequeathed his worldly possessions, after giving his manuscript copy of the Go Rin No Sho to his closest disciple (Terao Magonojo)'s younger brother. He died in Reigando cave around the nineteenth of the fifth month, or possibly June 13, 1645. The Hyoho senshi denki described his passing:
The grave-marker of Miyamoto Musashi, in present-day Kumamoto Prefecture (???).At the moment of his death, he had himself raised up. He had his belt tightened and his wakizashi put in it. He seated himself with one knee vertically raised, holding the sword with his left hand and a cane in his right hand. He died in this posture, at the age of sixty-two. The principal vassals of Lord Hosokawa and the other officers gathered, and they painstakingly carried out the ceremony. Then they set up a tomb on Mount Iwato on the order of the lord.
It is notable that Musashi died of what is believed to be thoracic cancer, and was not killed in combat. He died peacefully after finishing the Dokkodo ("The Way of Walking Alone", or "The Way of Self-Reliance"), 21 precepts on self-discipline to guide future generations.
His body was interred in armor within the village of Yuge, near the main road near Mount Iwato, facing the direction the Hosokawas would travel to Edo; his hair was buried on Mount Iwato itself.
Nine years later, a major source about his life — a monument with a funereal eulogy to Musashi — was erected in Kokura by Miyamoto Iori; this monument was called the Kokura hibun. An account of Musashi's life, the Niten-ki ???, was published in Kumamoto in 1776, by Toyota Kagehide, based on the recollections of his grandfather Toyota Masataka, who was a second generation pupil of Musashi.
[edit] Teachings
A picture of Musashi engaged in fantastic combat, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861).Musashi created and perfected a two-sword kenjutsu technique called niten'ichi (???, "two heavens as one") or nitoichi (???, "two swords as one") or "Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu" (A Kongen Buddhist Sutra refers to the two heavens as the two guardians of Buddha). In this technique, the swordsman uses both a large sword, and a "companion sword" at the same time, such as a katana and wakizashi.
It is said the two-handed movements of temple drummers inspired him, although it seems more likely that the technique was forged by a means of natural selection through Musashi's combat experience, or from jitte techniques which were taught to him by his father- the jitte was often used in battle paired with a sword; the jitte would parry and neutralize the weapon of the enemy whilst the sword struck or the practitioner grappled with the enemy. In his time a long sword in the left hand was referred to as gyaku nito. Today Musashi's style of swordsmanship is known as Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu.
Musashi was also an expert in throwing weapons. He frequently threw his short sword, and Kenji Tokitsu believes that shuriken methods for the wakizashi were the Niten Ichi Ryu's secret techniques. (see Hayakutake-Watkin: [1])
Musashi spent many years studying Buddhism and swordsmanship. He was an accomplished artist, sculptor, and calligrapher. Records also show that he had architectural skills. Also, he had a rather straightforward approach to combat, with no additional frills or aesthetic considerations. This was probably due to his real-life combat experience.
Especially in his later life Musashi also followed the more artistic side of bushido. He made various Zen brush paintings and calligraphy and sculpted wood and metal. Even in The Book of Five Rings he emphasizes that samurai should understand other professions as well. It should be understood that Musashi's writings were very ambiguous. Translating them into English makes them even more so. That is why we find so many copies of Gorin no Sho. One needs to read this work, Dokkodo and Hyoho Shiji ni Kajo to get a better idea of what he was about and understand his transformation from Setsuninto (the sword that takes life) to Katsujinken (the sword that gives life).
Yukio Mishima
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
a Japanese author, poet and playwright.
Mishima in his childhood (ca. April 1931)Mishima was born in the Yotsuya district of Tokyo (now part of Shinjuku). His father was Azusa Hiraoka, a government official, and his mother, Shizue, was the daughter of a school principal in Tokyo. His paternal grandparents were Jotaro and Natsuko Hiraoka. He had a younger sister named Mitsuko, who died of typhus, and a younger brother named Chiyuki.
Mishima's early childhood was dominated by the shadow of his grandmother, Natsu, who took the boy and separated him from his immediate family for several years.[1] Natsu was the illegitimate granddaughter of Matsudaira Yoritaka, the daimyo of Shishido in Hitachi Province, and had been raised in the household of Prince Arisugawa Taruhito; she maintained considerable aristocratic pretensions even after marrying Mishima's grandfather, a bureaucrat who had made his fortune in the newly opened colonial frontier and who rose to become Governor-General of Karafuto. She was also prone to violence and morbid outbursts, which are occasionally alluded to in Mishima's works.[2] It is to Natsu that some biographers have traced Mishima's fascination with death.[3] Natsu famously did not allow Mishima to venture into the sunlight, to engage in any kind of sport or to play with other boys; he spent much of his time alone or with female cousins and their dolls.[2]
Mishima returned to his immediate family at 12. His father, a man with a taste for military discipline, employed such tactics as holding the young boy up to the side of a speeding train; he also raided Mishima's room for evidence of an "effeminate" interest in literature and often ripped up the boy's manuscripts.
[edit] Schooling and early works
Young Mishima in school uniform (ca. February 1940)At 12, Mishima began to write his first stories. He read voraciously the works of Oscar Wilde, Rainer Maria Rilke and numerous classic Japanese authors. He attended the elite Peers School.[citation needed]
After six years at school, he became the youngest member of the editorial board in its literary society. Mishima was attracted to the works of Tachihara Michizo, which in turn created an appreciation for the classical form of the waka. Mishima's first published works included waka poetry, before he turned his attention to prose.
He was invited to write a prose short story for the Peers' School literary magazine and submitted Hanazakari no Mori (?????? The Forest in Full Bloom), a story in which the narrator describes the feeling that his ancestors somehow still live within him. Mishima’s teachers were so impressed with the work that they recommended it for the prestigious literary magazine, Bungei-Bunka (???? Literary Culture). The story, which makes use of the metaphors and aphorisms which later became his trademarks, was published in book form in 1944, albeit in a limited fashion (4,000 copies) due to the wartime shortage of paper. In order to protect him from a possible backlash from his schoolmates, his teachers coined the pen-name "Mishima Yukio".
Mishima's story Tabako (?? The Cigarette), published in 1946, describes some of the scorn and bullying he faced at school when he later confessed to members of the school's rugby union club that he belonged to the literary society. This trauma also provided material for the later story Shi o Kaku Shonen (?????? The Boy Who Wrote Poetry) in 1954.
Mishima received a draft notice for the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. At the time of his medical check up, he had a cold and spontaneously lied to the army doctor about having symptoms of tuberculosis and thus was declared unfit for service.
Although his father had forbidden him to write any further stories, Mishima continued to write secretly every night, supported and protected by his mother, who was always the first to read a new story. Attending lectures during the day and writing at night, Mishima graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1947. He obtained a position as an official in the government's Finance Ministry and was set up for a promising career.
However, Mishima had exhausted himself so much that his father agreed to his resigning from his position during his first year in order to devote his time to writing.
[edit] Post-war literature
Mishima began the short story Misaki nite no Monogatari (?????? A Story at the Cape) in 1945, and continued to work on it through the end of World War II. In January 1946, he visited famed writer Yasunari Kawabata in Kamakura, taking with him the manuscripts for Chusei (?? The Middle Ages) and Tabako, asking for Kawabata’s advice and assistance. In June 1946, per Kawabata's recommendations, Tabako was published in the new literary magazine Ningen (?? Humanity).
Also in 1946, Mishima began his first novel, Tozoku (?? Thieves), a story about two young members of the aristocracy drawn towards suicide. It was published in 1948, placing Mishima in the ranks of the Second Generation of Postwar Writers. He followed with Confessions of a Mask, a semi-autobiographical account of a young latent homosexual who must hide behind a mask in order to fit into society. The novel was extremely successful and made Mishima a celebrity at the age of 24.
Around 1949, Mishima published a series of essays in Kindai Bungaku on Yasunari Kawabata, for whom he had always had a deep appreciation. Mishima was a disciplined and versatile writer. He wrote not only novels, popular serial novellas, short stories and literary essays, but also highly-acclaimed plays for the Kabuki theater and modern versions of traditional Noh drama.
His writing gained him international celebrity and a sizable following in Europe and America, as many of his most famous works were translated into English.
Mishima traveled extensively; in 1952 he visited Greece, which had fascinated him since childhood. Elements from his visit appear in Shiosai (?? Sound of the Waves), which was published in 1954, and which drew inspiration from the Greek legend of Daphnis and Chloe.
Mishima made use of contemporary events in many of his works. The Temple of the Golden Pavilion in 1956 is a fictionalization of the burning of the famous temple in Kyoto. Utage no Ato (After the Banquet), published in 1960, so closely followed the events surrounding politician Hachiro Arita's campaign to become governor of Tokyo that Mishima was sued for invasion of privacy.[citation needed] In 1962, Mishima's most avant-garde work, Utsukushii Hoshi (Beautiful Star), which at times comes close to science fiction, was published to mixed critical response.
Mishima was among those considered for the Nobel Prize for Literature three times and was the darling of many foreign publications. However, in 1968 his early mentor Kawabata won the Nobel Prize and Mishima realized that the chances of it being given to another Japanese author in the near future were slim. It is also believed[citation needed] that Mishima wanted to leave the prize to the aging Kawabata, out of respect for the man who had first introduced him to the literary circles of Tokyo in the 1940s.
[edit] Acting
Mishima was also an actor, and he had a starring role in Yasuzo Masumura's 1960 film, Afraid to Die. He also has had roles in films including Yukoku (1966), Black Lizard (1968) and Hitokiro (1969). He also sang the theme song for Hitokiro.
[edit] Private life
Yukio Mishima (lower) with Shintaro Ishihara in 1956.In 1955, Mishima took up weight training and his workout regimen of three sessions per week was not disrupted for the final 15 years of his life. In a later essay published in 1968, Sun and Steel, Mishima deplores the emphasis given by intellectuals to the mind over the body. Mishima later also became very skillful at kendo.
Although he visited gay bars in Japan, Mishima's sexual orientation remains a matter of debate, though his widow wanted that part of his life downplayed after his death.[4] However, several people have claimed to have had homosexual relationships with Mishima, including writer Jiro Fukushima who, in his book, published a revealing correspondence between himself and the famed novelist. Soon after publication, Mishima's children successfully sued Fukushima for violating Mishima's privacy.[5] After briefly considering a marital alliance with Michiko Shoda—she later became the wife of Emperor Akihito—he married Yoko Sugiyama on June 11, 1958. The couple had two children, a daughter named Noriko (born June 2, 1959) and a son named Iichiro (born May 2, 1962).
In 1967, Mishima enlisted in the Ground Self Defense Force (GSDF) and underwent basic training. A year later, he formed the Tatenokai (Shield Society), a private army composed primarily of young students who studied martial principles and physical discipline, and swore to protect the Emperor. Mishima trained them himself. However, under Mishima's ideology, the emperor was not necessarily the reigning Emperor, but rather the abstract essence of Japan. In Eirei no Koe (Voices of the Heroic Dead), Mishima actually denounces Emperor Hirohito for renouncing his claim of divinity at the end of World War II.
In the last 10 years of his life, Mishima wrote several full length plays, acted in several movies and co-directed an adaptation of one of his stories, Patriotism, the Rite of Love and Death. He also continued work on his final tetralogy, Hojo no Umi (Sea of Fertility), which appeared in monthly serialized format starting in September 1965.
[edit] Ritual suicide
Mishima giving his final speech on the balcony of JSDF headquarters in Tokyo (November 25, 1970)On November 25, 1970, Mishima and four members of the Tatenokai, under pretext, visited the commandant of the Ichigaya Camp—the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of Japan's Self-Defense Forces.[4] Inside, they barricaded the office and tied the commandant to his chair. With a prepared manifesto and banner listing their demands, Mishima stepped onto the balcony to address the soldiers gathered below. His speech was intended to inspire a coup d'etat restoring the powers of the emperor. He succeeded only in irritating them, however, and was mocked and jeered. He finished his planned speech after a few minutes, returned to the commandant's office and committed seppuku. The customary kaishakunin duty at the end of this ritual had been assigned to Tatenokai member Masakatsu Morita, but Morita was unable to properly perform the task: after several attempts, he allowed another Tatenokai member, Hiroyasu Koga, to behead Mishima.
Another traditional element of the suicide ritual was the composition of jisei (death poems) before their entry into the headquarters.[6] Mishima planned his suicide meticulously for at least a year and no one outside the group of hand-picked Tatenokai members had any indication of what he was planning. His biographer, translator and former friend John Nathan suggests that the coup attempt was only a pretext for the ritual suicide of which Mishima had long dreamed.[7] Mishima made sure his affairs were in order and left money for the defense trial of the three surviving Tatenokai members.
[edit] Aftermath
Much speculation has surrounded Mishima's suicide. At the time of his death he had just completed the final book in his The Sea of Fertility tetralogy.[4] He was recognized as one of the most important post-war stylists of the Japanese language.
Mishima wrote 40 novels, 18 plays, 20 books of short stories, and at least 20 books of essays, one libretto, as well as one film. A large portion of this oeuvre comprises books written quickly for profit, but even if these are disregarded, a substantial body of work remains.
[edit] Politics
Mishima espoused a very individual brand of nationalism towards the end of his life. He was hated by leftists, in particular for his outspoken and anachronistic commitment to bushido (the code of the samurai) and by mainstream nationalists for his contention, in Bunka Boeiron (????? A Defense of Culture), that Hirohito should have abdicated and taken responsibility for the war dead.
[edit] Awards
Shincho Prize from Shinchosha Publishing, 1954, for The Sound of Waves.
Kishida Prize for Drama from Shinchosha Publishing, 1955.
Yomiuri Prize from Yomiuri Newspaper Co., for best novel, 1957, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion.
Yomiuri Prize from Yomiuri Newspaper Co., for best drama, 1961, Toka no Kiku.
[edit] Major works
Japanese Title English Title Year English translation, year ISBN
?????
Kamen no Kokuhaku Confessions of a Mask 1948 Meredith Weatherby, 1958 ISBN 0-8112-0118-X
????
Ai no Kawaki Thirst for Love 1950 Alfred H. Marks, 1969 ISBN 4-10-105003-1
??
Kinjiki Forbidden Colors 1953 Alfred H. Marks, 1968-1974 ISBN 0-375-70516-3
??
Shiosai The Sound of Waves 1954 Meredith Weatherby, 1956 ISBN 0-679-75268-4
???
Kinkaku-ji* The Temple of the Golden Pavilion 1956 Ivan Morris, 1959 ISBN 0-679-75270-6
????
Kyoko no Ie Kyoko's House 1959 ISBN
????
Utage no Ato After the Banquet 1960 Donald Keene, 1963 ISBN 0-399-50486-9
?????
Gogo no Eiko The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea 1963 John Nathan, 1965 ISBN 0-679-75015-0
????
Kinu to Meisatsu Silk and Insight 1964 Hiroaki Sato, 1998 ISBN 0-7656-0299-7
????
Mikumano Mode
(short story) Acts of Worship 1965 John Bester, 1995 ISBN 0-87011-824-2
??????
Sado Koshaku Fujin
(play) Madame de Sade 1965 Donald Keene, 1967 ISBN 0-394-17304-X
??
Yukoku
(short story) Patriotism 1966 Geoffrey W. Sargent, 1966 ISBN 0-8112-1312-9
????
Manatsu no Shi Death in Midsummer and other stories 1966 Edward G. Seidensticker, Ivan Morris,
Donald Keene, Geoffrey W. Sargent, 1966 ISBN 0-8112-0117-1
????
Hagakure Nyumon Way of the Samurai 1967 Kathryn Sparling, 1977 ISBN 0-465-09089-3
????????
Waga Tomo Hittora
(play) My Friend Hitler and Other Plays 1968 Hiroaki Sato, 2002 ISBN 0-231-12633-6
????
Taiyo to Tetsu Sun and Steel 1970 John Bester ISBN 4-7700-2903-9
????
Hojo no Umi The Sea of Fertility tetralogy: 1964-
1970 ISBN 0-677-14960-3
I. ???
Haru no Yuki 1. Spring Snow 1968 Michael Gallagher, 1972 ISBN 0-394-44239-3
II. ??
Honba 2. Runaway Horses 1969 Michael Gallagher, 1973 ISBN 0-394-46618-7
III. ???
Akatsuki no Tera 3. The Temple of Dawn 1970 E. Dale Saunders and Cecilia S. Seigle, 1973 ISBN 0-394-46614-4
IV. ????
Tennin Gosui 4. The Decay of the Angel 1970 Edward Seidensticker, 1974 ISBN 0-394-46613-6
*For the temple called Kinkaku-ji, see Kinkaku-ji.
[edit] Plays for classical Japanese theatre
In addition to contemporary-style plays such as Madame de Sade, Mishima wrote for two of the three genres of classical Japanese theatre: Noh and Kabuki (as a proud Tokyoite, he would not even attend the Bunraku puppet theatre, always associated with Osaka and the provinces).[8]
Though Mishima took themes, titles and characters from the Noh canon, his twists and modern settings, such as hospitals and ballrooms, startled audiences accustomed to the long-settled originals.
Donald Keene translated Five Modern Noh Plays (Tuttle, 1981; ISBN 0-8048-1380-9). Most others remain untranslated and so lack an "official" English title; it such cases it is therefore preferable to use the romaji title.
Year Japanese Title English Title Genre
1950 ??
Kantan Noh
1952 ?????
Sotoba Komachi Komachi at the Stupa (gravepost) Noh
1954 ?????
Iwashi Uri Koi Hikiami Dragnet of a Sardine-Seller's Love Kabuki
1955 ???
Aya no Tsuzumi The Damask Drum Noh
1955 ???????
Fuyo no Tsuyu Ouchi Jikki The Ouchi Clan (oversimplified/not standardised) Kabuki
1956 ??
Hanjo Noh
1956 ???
Aoi no Ue The Lady Aoi Noh
1965 ???
Yoroboshi The Blind Young Man Noh
1969 ?????
Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki The Crescent, or Crescent Moon: The Adventures of Tametomo, literally "The Strange Theory of a Paper Lantern's Appearance" Kabuki
[edit] Films
Year Title USA Release Title Character Director
1951 ????
Jumpaku no Yoru Unreleased in the U.S. Hideo Oba
1959 ???????
Fudotoku Kyoikukoza Unreleased in the U.S. himself Katsumi Nishikawa
1960 ??????
Karakkaze Yaro Afraid to Die Takeo Asahina Yasuzo Masumura
1966 ??
Yukoku Patriotism, The Rite of Love and Death Shinji Takeyama Domoto Masaki, Yukio Mishima
1968 ???
Kurotokage Black Lizard Human Statue Kinji Fukasaku
1969 ???
Hitokiri Tenchu! Shimbei Tanaka Hideo Gosha
1985 Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters Paul Schrader
Music by Philip Glass
The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima
(BBC documentary) The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima Michael Macintyre
[edit] Photo modeling
Mishima has been featured as a photo model in Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses by Eikoh Hosoe, as well as in Young Samurai: Bodybuilders of Japan and OTOKO: Photo Studies of the Young Japanese Male by Tamotsu Yato. Donald Richie gives a short lively account[9] of Mishima, dressed in a loincloth and armed with a sword, posing in the snow for one of Tamotsu Yato's photoshoots.
[edit] Works about Mishima
Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses by Eiko Hosoe and Mishima (photoerotic collection of images of Mishima, with his own commentary) (Aperture 2002 ISBN 0-89381-169-6)
Deadly Dialectics: Sex, Violence, and Nihilism in the World of Yukio Mishima by Roy Starrs (University of Hawaii Press, 1994, ISBN 0-8248-1630-7 and ISBN 0-8248-1630-7)
Escape from the Wasteland: Romanticism and Realism in the Fiction of Mishima Yukio and Oe Kenzaburo (Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series, No 33) by Susan J. Napier (Harvard University Press, 1995 ISBN 0-674-26181-X)
Mishima: A Biography by John Nathan (Boston, Little, Brown and Company 1974, ISBN 0-316-59844-5)
Mishima ou la vision du vide (Mishima : A Vision of the Void), essay by Marguerite Yourcenar trans. by Alberto Manguel 2001 ISBN 0-226-96532-5)
Rogue Messiahs: Tales of Self-Proclaimed Saviors by Colin Wilson (Mishima profiled in context of phenomenon of various "outsider" Messiah types), (Hampton Roads Publishing Company 2000 ISBN 1-57174-175-5)
The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima, by Henry Scott Stokes London : Owen, 1975 ISBN 0-7206-0123-1)
The Madness and Perversion of Yukio Mishima by Jerry S. Piven. (Westport, Connecticut, Praeger Publishers, 2004 ISBN 0-275-97985-7)
Yukio Mishima by Peter Wolfe ("reviews Mishima's life and times, discusses, his major works, and looks at important themes in his novels," 1989, ISBN 0-8264-0443-X)
Yukio Mishima, Terror and Postmodern Japan by Richard Appignanesi (2002, ISBN 1-84046-371-6)
Mishima's Sword–Travels in Search of a Samurai Legend by Christopher Ross (2006, ISBN 0-00-713508-4)
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), a film directed by Paul Schrader
Yukio Mishima: Samurai Writer, a BBC documentary on Yukio Mishima, directed by Michael Macintyre, (1985, VHS ISBN 978-1-4213-6981-5, DVD ISBN 978-1-4213-6982-2)
[edit] Notes and references
^ kirjasto.sci.fi Profile Yukio Mishima (1925–1970). Retrieved on 2007 February 2-6.
^ a b glbtq Entry Mishima, Yukio (1925-1970). Retrieved on 2007-2-6.
^ jlit.net Profile Mishima Yukio (January 14, 1925 - November 25, 1970. 2007 February 2-6.
^ a b c Mishima: Film Examines an Affair with Death by Michiko Kakutani. New York Times. September 15, 1985.
^ Sato, Hiroaki (2008-12-29). “The View from New York - Suppressing more than free speech” (HTML), www.japantimes.co.jp/ The Japan Times. Retrieved on 10 January 2009.
^ Donald Keene, The Pleasures of Japanese Literature, p.62
^ Nathan, John Mishima:A biography 1974 Little Brown and Company: Boston/Toronto
^ Donald Keene, Chronicles of My Life in the 20th century (29. Mishima in New York) yomiuri.co.jp
^ Donald Richie, The Japan Journals: 1947-2004, Stone Bridge Press (2005), pp. 148-149.
[edit] External links
The Mishima Yukio Cyber Museum
Web page devoted to Yukio Mishima
Yukio Mishima: A 20th Century Samurai
Books and Writers bio
Short bio with photo
Mishima chronology, with links
YUKIO MISHIMA: The Harmony of Pen and Sword Ceremony commemorating his 70th Birthday Anniversary
Blood and Flowers: Purity of Action in The Sea of Fertility
Film review of Yukoku (Patriotism)
Mishima is interviewed in English on a range of subjects From a 1980s BBC documentary (9:02)
Mishima is interviewed in English on the subject of Japanese Nationalism From Canadian Television (3:59)
Persondata
NAME Hiraoka, Kimitake
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kimitake Hiraoka; ?? ?? (Japanese); Mishima, Yukio; Yukio Mishima; ?? ??? (Japanese)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Japanese novelist, playwright, poet,, short story writer, essayist
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Shinjuku, Tokyo
DATE OF DEATH November 25, 1970
PLACE OF DEATH JSDF headquarters, Tokyo
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukio_Mishima"
Categories: Kabuki playwrights | Noh playwrights | Japanese dramatists and playwrights | Japanese kendoka | Japanese novelists | Japanese short story writers | Japanese poets | Seppuku | People from Tokyo | Writers who committed suicide | 1925 births | 1970 deaths | University of Tokyo alumni
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