Rich Sea (Volume 1 and 2) (World Literature Collection)

Author: Yukio Mishima
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-01-01
Features: Yukio Mishima's original name was Hirao Kazuo. He was born into a declining aristocratic family. Mishima's grandfather, Hirao Teichitaro, originally came from rural areas and belonged to the lower class who had lost their land. Later, both grandfather and his younger brother took the entrance exams for Tokyo Imperial University and graduated. After graduation, the grandfather entered politics and served as the governor of Fukushima Prefecture and Sakhalin. This brought honor to his family, allowing him to marry a wife of noble birth—the grandmother of Mishima, Nagai Natsuko. Nagai Natsuko came from a relatively prominent samurai family and was later raised by the imperial family, spending her girlhood years in the palace. Later, she became the source of the aristocratic sentiment that Mishima pursued throughout his life.