It’s postwar Japan, a country now being reshaped by it’s surrender. Japan moved further from the past reshaping the old into something new. Rather than moving alongside the new profound modern wave, established novelist Yukio Mishima’s loyalty to old was unwavering as the ocean. While Japan compromised Mishima did not. I think it’s that sentiment of his strong will and beliefs that truly hold my undivided attention.

Born into a traditional samurai family imbued with a sense of tradition and control. He grew up in the care of a pacifying grandmother secluding him from soft play and even sunlight in place for a bond with classical literature and stories around samurai honor.

This early world of isolation was torn apart when Mishima later returned to live with his parents. While his grandmother offered silence and stories, his father offered discipline and strength. It was his strict and authoritive father who molded Mishima in being a warrior.

In The Temple of The Golden Pavilion, beauty and destruction linear theme’s in his work highlight an idea of beauty being an unchanging and consuming force. Mishima reveals in his writings, man’s obsession with beauty and it’s inevitable corruption. The Pavilion’s unnerving beauty contrasted to the protagonist of the story who mirrors Mishima’s own struggles. The Pavillion stands so perfect eventually becoming overbearing to the point of destruction.

This idea wasn’t just confined to fiction. In 1945 The surrender of Japan was announced by Emperor Hirohito. As Japan adapted to a new age with a new constitution. In Mishima’s eyes although Japan hadn’t lost the war it had lost something greater it’s honor and culture. A corruption caused by the Western’s influence.

Mishima’s refusal to bend with the tide is what makes him unique. His outlook on life is what shapes him and his work into the genius and literary icon he is known as today. In a world that rewards us to compromise, Mishima’s defiance feels both tragic and inspiring. But it leaves a question was he a hero, a relic or something far more complex?