Confessions of a Mask

Confessions of a Mask is a novel by Yukio Mishima, first published in Japan in 1949. The novel takes place during and immediately after World War II and centers on the struggles of a young man named Kochan. It has significant elements of the coming-of-age (bildungsroman) and queer literature genres, as Kochan is a closeted gay man trying to navigate his complex inner life and sexuality in contrast with his carefully controlled outer persona. The novel made Mishima a celebrity, and to this day, scholars regard it as a hallmark of postwar Japanese literature. Confessions of a Mask represents Mishima's trademark style, which blends Japanese and Western styles of writing through lush prose and metaphor. Kochan’s life and interests in Confessions of a Mask so resemble Mishima’s own that many have called it a fictionalized autobiography or memoir. After the publication of Confessions of a Mask when he was only 24, Mishima’s career became varied and infamous. He wrote 33 additional novels and many other literary works, but also achieved fame in other spheres; he was a model and an ardent Japanese nationalist.