| YEAR | MISHIMA'S LIFE | JAPAN |
|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Yukio Mishima is born in Tokyo, Japan. | Passage of the Peace Preservation Act in Japan. This law gave the japanese police widespread power in curbing dissent. |
| 1926 | The emperor Yoshihito dies of ill health. His son Hirohito becomes the new emperor. | |
| 1931 | Japan begins military aggression in Manchuria | |
| 1932 | The Japanese military sets up a puppet government in Manchuria called Manchukuo. | |
| 1936 | Japan signs the Anti-Comitern pact with Germany. | |
| 1937 | Sino-Japanese War begins | |
| 1938 | Publishes his first novel in his school newspaper. | The Japanese army has occupied much of northern China. |
| 1941 | His short story "The Forest in Full Bloom" is published. | Soviet-Japanese nonaggression pact signed in April. Japan attacks Pearl Harbor in December. |
| 1944 | Mishima enters Tokyo Imperial University.Publishes his first collection of short stories. | |
| 1945 | Japan surrenders to the United States on board the ship "USS Missouri ending the Second World War. General Douglas MacArthur accepted the terms of surrender from the Japanese representives. The American occupation of Japan begins. |
| YEAR | MISHIMA'S LIFE | JAPAN |
|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Mishima brings two essays to the writer Yasnuri Kawabata. He later becomes Kawabata's protege. |
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| 1949 | The novel "Confessions of a Mask" is published in Japan. | |
| 1950 | The novel "Thirst for Love" is published. | |
| 1951 | ||
| 1952 | The American occupation of Japan ends. Japan's sovereignity as an independent nation is restored. | |
| 1954 | The novel "The Sound of the Waves" is published. | |
| 1956 | The novel "The Temple of the Golden Pavillon" is published. | |
| 1957 | A collection of plays called "Five Modern No Plays" is published. | |
| 1959 | A collection of plays called "Five Modern No Plays" is published. The novel "Confessions of a Mask" is first published in english in the United States. | |
| 1960 | The novel "After the Banquet" is published. | |
| 1963 | The novel "The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea" is published. | |
| 1964 | Mishima begins to write "The Sea of Fertility Novels". | |
| 1966 | The collection of short stories "Death in Midsummer" is published. | |
| 1969 | Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature. The prize was awarded to Yasnuri Kawabata instead. | |
| 1970 | Mishima commits ritual suicide (seppuku) after a political protest. | |
| 1972 | "Spring Snow" the first book of the Sea of Fertility series is published. | |
| 1973 | "Runaway Horses" and "Temple of Dawn" the second and third books of the Sea of Fertility series are published. | |
| 1974 | "Decay of the Angel" the fourth book of the Sea of Fertility is published. |