Confessions of a Mask

Yukio Mishima’s Confessions of a Mask (仮面の告白, Kamen no Kokuhaku) was first published in 1949, following the 1948 release of his first novel, Thieves (盗賊, Tōzoku). Written while Mishima was in his twenties, it reads in many respects like a young man’s autobiography. Kochan, the protagonist, examines his passions and violent fantasies as an introvert of fragile constitution. His “mask” conceals from society his true self as a homosexual, while also shielding him from himself, a kind of defense or alter ego shaped by his imagination to make him feel at ease in his own skin. He wears this mask in his pursuit of a girl named Sonoko, and he comes to believe he is in love with her. As the air raids on Tokyo intensify, their tepid relationship somehow endures, despite his inability to suppress his true desires.

The book meanders in a way that feels natural for a young author’s introspective first-person narrative. Mishima, a writer of many facets, reveals another side here that is both candid and deeply personal. It’s likely more rewarding if you’ve read his work before. The translation by Meredith Weatherby is also notable, both forceful and fluid, and a reminder that translation is an art form in itself.