Early Life: Childhood and Adolescence
Mishima Age 6
“When a boy…discovers that he is more given into introspection and consciousness of self than other boys his age, he easily falls into the error of believing it is because he is more mature than they. This was certainly a mistake in my case.” - Mishima (Confessions of a Mask)
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Yukio Mishima (三島 由紀夫) was born on January 14th, 1925 in the Yotsuya district of Tokyo which is now a part of Shinjuku.
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He was born under the name Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡 公威); Yukio Mishima was merely a pseudonym used by Hiraoka.
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Mishima grew up being raised by his strict and grandmother, Natsuko. She separates him from his immediate family until Mishima is 12, the year he is returned.
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At the age of 6 Yukio was enrolled in Gakushūin (学習院), an institution for the children of Japan’s nobles. The year was 1931.
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In 1938, Yukio Mishima publishes his first novel in the school newspaper, at the age of 13. His teachers gave him the pen name “Yukio Mishima” to protect him frombeing bullied by his classmates.
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Mishima graduates with honors from his high school. In 1944, he enters the prestigious Tokyo Imperial University.
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In 1928, Mitsuko, (Mishima's sister) is born. Two years later, Chuyuki (brother is also born.
Mishima & his sister Mitsuko
