The Riddle of Yukio Mishima
thegavoice.com“Does this make sense?” We must ask that question when we look across cultures and times. So, how to explain Yukio Mishima and his brand of literate right-wing fanaticism?
Born into an old Samurai family in 1925 in Tokyo, the boy was essentially kidnapped by his paternal grandmother. She kept him isolated in her apartments, forbade him to go out into the sun, and only permitted him to play occasionally with female cousins and their dolls.
She encouraged him to read and write. He adored Hans Christian Anderson and Oscar Wilde, cherished European culture and philosophy, especially Nietzsche and the late Romantics, as well as Samurai classics.
He was clapped back to his father’s side at age 12. Concerned that his mother had sissified the boy, Daddy did things such as holding Mishima up to the side of speeding trains.
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