Sun and Steel: Art, Action and Ritual Death is a book

Book

A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...

 by Yukio Mishima

Yukio Mishima

was the pen name of , a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director, also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état...

. It is an autobiographical essay

Essay

An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...

, a memoir

Memoir

A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...

 of the author's relationship to his body. The book recounts the author's experiences with, and reflections upon, his bodybuilding

Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their...

 and martial arts

Martial arts

Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

 training.

The book was first published in 1968, gathering what had appeared in (the Takeshi Maramatsu founded magazine) Criticism from late 1965 on.

It was translated by John Bester

John Bester

John Bester , born and educated in England, is one of the foremost translators of modern Japanese fiction. He is a graduate of the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies.-Works:...

 (Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

: Kodansha International, 1970, ISBN 0-87011-117-5; New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Grove Press

Grove Press

Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1951. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United States. The Atlantic Monthly Press, under the aegis of its...

, 1970, ISBN 0-394-17765-7; London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, Secker and Warburg

Secker and Warburg

Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2004 from the merger of Secker and Warburg and the Harvill Press.Secker and Warburg was formed in 1936 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, by Fredric Warburg and Roger Senhouse...

, 1971, ISBN 0-436-28155-4; Kodansha America reissue edition, 1994, ISBN 0-87011-425-5; Kodansha International, 2003, ISBN 4-7700-2903-9).

External links

• Sun and Steel at The Yukio Mishima Web Page.
• Review of Sun and Steel by Seigo Nakao
  Seigo Nakao
  Seigo Nakao is the head of Japanese Studies at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, United States. He is the author of many books relating to Japan including The Random House Japanese-English English-Japanese dictionary and the Japanese Reference Dictionary published by Berlitz, the...