Yukio Mishima

Yukio Mishima was born in 1925 in Tokyo, and is considered one of Japan's most important writers. His books broke social boundaries and taboos at a time when Japan found itself in a state of rapid social change. His interests, besides writing, included body-building, acting and practising martial arts. In 1970, he attempted to start a military coup, which failed. Upon realizing this, Mishima performed seppuku, a ritual suicide. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature three times.