This photo-essay by photographer Kishin Shinoyama is the first of what I anticipate will be a flurry of publications marking, come November, fifty years since Mishima’s death. JapanKishin Shinoyamaphilosophical literaturephotographyYukio Mishima
Born on June 8th. Becoming the Emperor: How Marguerite Yourcenar reinvented the past. Then she came upon the drafts of a novel about Hadrian that she had begun when she was twenty-one and had later put aside. …. She was forty-five when she went back to Hadrian. Marcus AureliusMarguerite YourcenarMemoirs of Hadrianphilosophical literatureYukio Mishima
Pretty naff cover what with the Aladdin Sane lightening bolt layered over a decent photo. The UK cover is better. Anyway, the books (and periodicals) have a strong dose both of sophisticated and pretty basic humour, counterposed by books of philosophical interest, especially if one is wary of regressive Leftism. The following are the most…
Excerpt from Anna Sherman’s The Bells of Old Tokyo: Meditations on Time and a City in The Paris Review. Anna ShermanJapanphilosophical literaturetimeTokyoYukio Mishima
Born on June 8th. Becoming the Emperor: How Marguerite Yourcenar reinvented the past. Then she came upon the drafts of a novel about Hadrian that she had begun when she was twenty-one and had later put aside. …. She was forty-five when she went back to Hadrian. Marcus AureliusMarguerite YourcenarMemoirs of Hadrianphilosophical literatureYukio Mishima
Excerpt from Star dropping tomorrow. All eyes are on Rikio. And he likes it, mostly. His fans cheer, screaming and yelling to attract his attention—they would kill for a moment alone with him. Finally the director sets up the shot, the camera begins to roll, someone yells “action”; Rikio, for a moment, transforms into another being,…
Here is the very excellent Damian Flanagan’s report on Andrew Clare’s recently published (first) English translation of The Frolic of the Beasts. Today marks the death of Mishima. (For those who have yet to discover Mishima, beware! There is a lot of maleducated journalistic tripe out there). For a high-profile author like Mishima, it’s surprising how…
Here’s another somewhat pretentious Johnny-come-lately review of Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters but fortunately there is this little nugget of a footnote to Mishima’s life. JapanMishima: A Life in Four ChaptersPaul Schraderphilosophical cinemaphilosophical literatureYukio Mishima
Mishima’s classic published in English (translated by Ivan Morris) on this date in 1959. See Donald Keene’s original review “Beauty Itself Became a Deadly Enemy” in the NYT. aestheticsDonald KeeneJapanphilosophical literatureYukio Mishima
Paul Schrader and Alan Poul discuss the trials and tribulations in the making of Mishima: A life in four chapters. For copyright reasons, one is not contemporaneously privy to what Paul and Alan are viewing (much like Herzog’s commentary tracks). As a curtain-raiser one should listen to Benjamin Noggle’s Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters — Criterion Retrospective.…
manwithoutqualities 