On the morning of his last day, Mishima posted the final book of his tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility, to his publisher. These four books, written in a frantic burst of creativity, were something new. Starting in 1912, shortly after the Russo-Japanese War, and ending in 1975, they span a period of extraordinary change: from the ascendance of the Imperial Japan, through the annihilation of World War Two, and to the emergence of a capitalist, consumerist Japan. They are held together by one character, Honda – perhaps a stand-in for Mishima – and the repeated reincarnation of his boyhood friend, an enduring soul surrounded by change and decline.
Compared to Mishima’s early works, The Sea of Fertility contains much dense philosophising. And, after the second, the volumes feel rushed, becoming increasingly slim. Mishima wrote most of the final volume, The Decay of the Angel, during a seaside family holiday in August 1970. In a letter dated 18 November, 1970, to a mentor of his, Fumio Kiyomizu, Mishima wrote, “To me, finishing this [book] is nothing more than the end of the world.” The last lines of The Decay of the Angel are very still.
“It was a bright, quiet garden, without striking features. Like a rosary rubbed between the hands, the shrilling of cicadas held sway.
There was no other sound. The garden was empty. He had come, thought Honda, to a place that had no memories, nothing.
The noontide sun of summer flowed over the still garden.”
If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.
And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.