Discover our guide with authors like Yukio Mishima, who will send you down a philosophical rabbit hole, questioning your opinions and beliefs one after another.
Yukio Mishima was a Japanese author, playwright, and poet known today as one of the most influential literary figures of the 20th century. Mishima was known for his top-notch descriptive language, use of metaphor, and how he uniquely combined Western and Japanese writing styles. The author’s politics, including founding an unarmed civilian militia, often kept him at the center of controversy.
Mishima is as well-known for his death as his life. He participated in a ritual samurai suicide at age 40 to bring awareness to problems in Japan’s political realm. His legacy in 2025 remains complex and compelling, with his exploration of beauty, death, and tradition continuing to influence contemporary writers worldwide.
Must-Read Authors Like Yukio Mishima
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1. Natsume Soseki, 1867 - 1916
Natsume Soseki was best known for several novels and short stories, including Kokoro, I am a Cat, and Grass Pillow. The author was born into a wealthy family but was an unexpected (and sadly, unwanted) child to his parents. Another family adopted him, then returned him to his biological family at age 9. Soseki dreamed of becoming a writer as a teen, but his family disapproved. He later began college to become an architect, but a friend convinced him to try writing.
He began teaching middle school English and later was sent to the United Kingdom by the Japanese government to become the first Japanese English literary scholar. Like Mishima, Soseki grappled with the tension between Western influence and Japanese tradition, exploring themes of alienation and moral conflict in modern society. His psychological insight into characters struggling with identity resonates strongly with Mishima’s explorations of the human condition.
In addition to his novels and short stories, Soseki wrote haiku, renku, haitaishi, and social commentary. His work Kokoro particularly echoes Mishima’s preoccupations with honor, shame, and the burden of the past on the present.
“I believe that words uttered in passion contain a greater living truth than do those words which express thoughts rationally conceived. It is blood that moves the body. Words are not meant to stir the air only: they are capable of moving greater things.” - Natsume Soseki, Kokoro
2. Kenzaburo Oe, 1935 - 2023
Hiroshima Notes author Kenzaburo Oe was influential in Japanese literature. He touched on many social issues throughout his writing career, including nuclear weapons, existentialism, nuclear power, and non-conformism. The author began his literary career in 1957 when he published his first short story, Lavish are the Dead, in Bungakukai literary magazine.
Oe credits his son, Hikari, with influencing his literary career. Hikari was born with brain damage, and Oe’s 1964 novel A Personal Matter discusses his family’s adjustment as they welcomed Hikari to the world. His son lived with him and his wife for decades, often composing music while sitting beside his father as he worked.
What connects Oe to Mishima is their shared commitment to confronting uncomfortable truths about Japanese society and human nature. Both writers refused to shy away from controversial subjects and used their personal experiences to explore universal themes of suffering, responsibility, and moral choice. Oe’s Nobel Prize in Literature (1994) cemented his position as one of Japan’s most important voices in contemporary fiction.
“The people of Hiroshima went to work at once to restore human society in the aftermath of the great atomic flood. They were concerned to salvage their own lives, but in the process they also salvaged the souls of the people who have brought the atomic bomb.” - Kenzaburō Ōe, Hiroshima Notes
3. Osamu Dazai, 1909 - 1948
Shuji Tsushima wrote No Longer Human under the pen name Osamu Dazai. Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Murasaki Shikibu heavily influenced the novelist. Dazai wrote in a first-person style that was rare then and soon became his literary trademark. Sadly, he made several suicide attempts throughout his life and struggled with drugs and alcohol for years. After running away with a geisha, his family disowned him at a young age.
Dazai’s work gained popularity during WWII and was published despite his Marxist leanings. In 1948, Dazai tragically died by suicide by drowning with his lover, Tomie Yamazaki. Like Mishima, Dazai explored themes of alienation, self-destruction, and the search for authentic existence in a rapidly modernizing Japan.
Both authors shared an obsession with death and beauty, though Dazai’s approach was more introspective and melancholic compared to Mishima’s dramatic intensity. No Longer Human remains one of the best-selling novels in Japan and continues to influence writers exploring themes of social alienation and existential despair.
“I am convinced that human life is filled with many pure, happy, serene examples of insincerity, truly splendid of their kind—of people deceiving one another without (strangely enough) any wounds being inflicted, of people who seem unaware even that they are deceiving one another.” - Osamu Dazai, No Longer Human
4. Yasushi Inoue, 1907 - 1991
Best known for his novella The Hunting Gun, Inoue completed his degree in philosophy at Kyoto University. In addition to the praise Inoue received for The Hunting Gun, he also received wide acclaim for The Bullfight, for which he was awarded the Akutagawa Prize. In addition to his novellas, Inoue also wrote autobiographical books, including 1975’s Chronicle of My Mother, which detailed his mother’s descent into dementia during the later years of her life.
Inoue was best known for his writing, but he was also renowned for his deep knowledge of Japanese history. Like Mishima, Inoue possessed a profound understanding of Japanese cultural traditions and their place in the modern world. His historical fiction often explored the psychological depths of characters caught between duty and desire, tradition and modernity—themes central to Mishima’s work.
The Hunting Gun particularly demonstrates Inoue’s ability to create psychological tension through restrained prose, much like Mishima’s more subtle works. Both authors understood how to reveal complex human emotions through carefully controlled narrative techniques.
“First of all, you’ve never had anything to do with loneliness. You’ve never felt lonesome.” - Yasushi Inoue, The Hunting Gun
5. Georges Bataille, 1897 - 1962
The Unfinished System of Nonknowledge is the most widely known work of Georges Bataille, a French philosopher, author, and mystic. The work was compiled after his death and brought together many of the author’s writings and lectures on theology, history, meditation, and more. Bataille developed the concept of base materialism during the 1920s, inspired by Gnostic ideas (an ancient set of beliefs that emphasized personal spiritual journeys over organized religion).
Sigmund Freud and Friedrich Nietzsche heavily influenced Bataille. What makes Bataille essential reading for Mishima fans is his exploration of the relationship between eroticism, death, and the sacred. Both writers were fascinated by transgression, violence, and the ecstatic moments where boundaries dissolve. Bataille’s philosophical investigations into excess and limit parallel Mishima’s literary explorations of beauty and destruction.
Their shared interest in the darker aspects of human nature and the search for transcendent experiences through extreme situations makes Bataille a natural companion to Mishima’s work. Both challenged conventional morality and explored the territory beyond rational thought.
“Nothing is more necessary or stronger in us than rebellion.” - Georges Bataille, The Unfinished System of Nonknowledge
6. Taichi Yamada, 1945 - 2021
Born Taichi Ishizaka, Taichi Yamada was a screenwriter and novelist who left his job as an assistant director to pursue a career in screenwriting. Yamada saw great success writing for the small screen and also wrote plays and movie scripts. I Haven’t Dreamed of Flying for a While is known as one of the author’s most successful works worldwide—the novel was translated into English in 2008. Yamada is also known for his novel Strangers, which won the Yamamoto Shugoro Prize.
Yamada’s work shares with Mishima a fascination with the blurred boundaries between reality and fantasy, life and death. His supernatural elements often serve to explore deeper psychological truths about human nature and desire. Like Mishima, Yamada understood how to use the fantastical to illuminate very real human concerns about mortality, memory, and meaning.
Both authors possessed the ability to create atmosphere that lingers with readers long after finishing their works, using their mastery of mood and psychological insight to create unforgettable literary experiences.
“I shouldn’t have said that. We should keep reality as far away as possible.” - Taichi Yamada, I Haven’t Dreamed of Flying for a While
7. Yasunari Kawabata, 1899 - 1972
Nobel Prize-winning novelist Yasunari Kawabata is known for his lyrical prose that has been heralded for its broad international appeal. Three of the author’s novels were cited as reasons behind his 1968 Nobel Prize win, including Thousand Cranes. Kawabata was devoted to Zen Buddhism and often spoke of the benefits of long meditation periods, contemplating how simplicity becomes beauty.
During his Nobel Prize speech, Kawabata briefly mentioned suicide, stating that he felt dying by suicide was a form of enlightenment. After feeling devastated by the suicide of Mishima, Kawabata also died by suicide in 1972. The connection between these two literary giants runs deep—both explored themes of beauty, death, and the aesthetic life, though Kawabata’s approach was more contemplative and serene compared to Mishima’s passionate intensity.
Both authors shared a commitment to Japanese aesthetic principles and the belief that literature could capture moments of transcendent beauty. Their friendship and mutual influence make Kawabata essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Mishima’s artistic context and philosophical development.
“Now, even more than the evening before, he could think of no one with whom to compare her. She had become absolute, beyond comparison. She had become decision and fate.” - Yasunari Kawabata, Thousand Cranes
8. Jun-ichiro Tanizaki, 1886 - 1965
Heralded for his work In Praise of Shadows, Jun-ichiro Tanizaki is considered one of the greatest figures in Japanese literature. The writer often compared the differences between Western life and Japanese tradition. Tanizaki began writing in 1909, and his first work was a one-act stage play published by a literary magazine. His name quickly became well-known.
In addition to Shadows, Tanizaki is well-known for The Makioka Sisters, which detailed the lives of four daughters of a well-off Osaka merchant who watched their lives deteriorate as World War II began. The work was meant to be serialized, as it was wildly popular with readers. Sadly, the novel’s serialization was never completed. His publishers were warned that his writing did not match the spirit necessary for the public to embrace during the war.
Like Mishima, Tanizaki was deeply concerned with the tension between traditional Japanese values and Western modernization. Both writers possessed an almost obsessive attention to aesthetic detail and explored themes of decadence, beauty, and cultural identity. Tanizaki’s essay In Praise of Shadows remains a masterpiece of aesthetic philosophy that resonates with Mishima’s own preoccupations with beauty and tradition.
“If light is scarce, then light is scarce; we will immerse ourselves in the darkness and there discover its own particular beauty. But the progressive Westerner is determined always to better his lot.” - Junichirō Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows
9. Ogai Mori, 1862 - 1922
The Wild Geese author Mori Ogai was a Japanese Army officer, novelist, poet, and translator. Ogai drew inspiration from many cultures and was the first writer to successfully translate Western poetry into Japanese. The writer is often credited with modernizing Japanese literature and making the works of Japanese authors accessible to readers around the globe. Ogai classified himself as an “anti-realist.” He believed literature should explore spiritual and emotional ideas rather than be centered in the real world.
What connects Ogai to Mishima is their shared role as cultural bridges between East and West. Both writers served in military capacities and understood the complexities of Japanese modernization from personal experience. Ogai’s exploration of duty, honor, and individual desire in works like The Wild Geese prefigures many of Mishima’s central themes.
Both authors possessed deep classical education and used their knowledge of both Japanese and Western literary traditions to create works that spoke to universal human experiences while remaining distinctly Japanese in sensibility.
“I don’t remember who spoke first, but I do recall the first words between us: ‘How often we meet among old books!’ This was the start of our friendship.” - Ōgai Mori, The Wild Geese
10. Kobo Abe, 1924 - 1993
The Face of Another author Kobo Abe was an inventor, photographer, and playwright in addition to his writing career. Before writing Face, Abe was known for his novel The Woman in the Dunes, which was made into a feature film in 1964. Abe is often likened to Franz Kafka due to his ability to explore dark parts of society in surreal ways. Abe won the 1962 Yomiuri Prize for Dunes, for which he was awarded two million yen.
Like Mishima, Abe was fascinated by questions of identity, alienation, and the individual’s place in modern society. Both writers used surreal and sometimes disturbing imagery to explore psychological and philosophical questions about human nature. Abe’s exploration of masks, identity, and transformation in The Face of Another resonates strongly with Mishima’s preoccupations with authentic self-expression and the roles we play in society.
Both authors understood how to use the grotesque and the beautiful to create literature that challenges readers’ assumptions about reality, morality, and meaning. Their work continues to influence contemporary writers exploring themes of existential uncertainty and social alienation.
“You don’t need me. What you really need is a mirror. Because any stranger is for you simply a mirror in which to reflect yourself. I don’t ever again want to return to such a desert of mirrors.” - Kōbō Abe, The Face of Another
Why These Authors Matter in 2025
In our current era of global uncertainty and cultural transformation, these authors’ explorations of identity, tradition, and modernity feel more relevant than ever. Like Mishima, they understood that literature’s highest calling is to grapple with life’s most fundamental questions: How do we maintain authentic selves in rapidly changing societies? What is the relationship between beauty and destruction? How do we honor the past while embracing the future?
These writers offer no easy answers, but they provide something perhaps more valuable: the courage to ask difficult questions and the artistic skill to transform those questions into unforgettable literature. Whether you’re drawn to Kawabata’s serene contemplation of beauty, Bataille’s transgressive philosophy, or Abe’s surreal explorations of identity, each author offers a unique window into the human condition that will deepen your appreciation for Mishima’s singular vision.
Their collective work reminds us that the best literature doesn’t simply entertain—it challenges, provokes, and transforms, leaving us forever changed by the encounter.
