Yukio Mishima (三島 由紀夫) AKA Kimitake Hiraoka
[Jan. 14, 1925 – Nov. 25, 1970] [related: Tatenokai]
Yukio Mishima, born Kimitake Hiraoka in 1925, was a highly influential Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, weightlifter and fashion model. His literary output includes the celebrated tetralogy The Sea of Fertility, the iconic novel Confessions of a Mask, and the science fiction masterpiece Beautiful Star, which deals heavily with UFO's and Venusian enigmata. An ardent Shintoist and nationalist, Mishima was the founder and leader of the Tatenokai, or Shield Society, a private militia dedicated to the upholding of traditional Japanese values - including veneration of the emperor as the human form of God. Mishima was greatly distressed by the demilitarization of Japanese post-World War II, and was deeply skeptical of the capitalistically-driven Japanese Economic Miracle. On November 25, 1970, Mishima, along with four members of the Tatenokai, carried out a meticulously planned coup attempt aimed at restoring the powers of the Emperor and reviving the samurai spirit in post-war Japan. The group stormed the Tokyo headquarters of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), taking the commandant, General Kanetoshi Mashita, hostage. Mishima, dressed in a tight-fitting traditional Japanese uniform, addressed the soldiers from a balcony, delivering an impassioned speech calling on them to rise up and overthrow the government. His speech was met with immediate confusion and ridicule, resulting in cascading insults and jeers. Retreating into the commandant's office, Mishima performed ritual suicide by disembowelment, or seppuku, a practice, as per the Bushido code, reserved for samurai who wished to die with honor rather than face disgrace. His bumbling first commander, Masakatsu Morita, was tasked with beheading him to complete the ritual, but after multiple failed attempts, another member of the Tatenokai was forced to complete the decapitation. Morita then attempted to commit seppuku himself but, after multiple attempts, also required assistance to complete the ritual. Despite Mishima's hypermasculine values, he was a regular patron at a number of well known Tokyo gay bars and was widely rumoured to be a closeted homosexual.