January 2025 would have marked Yukio Mishima's 100th birthday. Before his death by suicide at age 45, he left a substantial legacy: 35 novels (including Spring Snow and The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea), 40 plays, dozens of essays, several films, and 170 short stories. Voices of the Fallen Heroes, with an erudite introduction by Japanese cultural studies scholar John Nathan, gathers 14 compelling tales written between 1962 and 1969, the final decade of Mishima's truncated life. Collection editor Stephen Dodd leads an impressive assembly of notable translators that includes Sam Bett and Juliet Winters Carpenter.
The titular story is the longest. It melds the fantastical with the historical as it gives voice to the spirits of soldiers who sacrificed their lives in defense of Japan, disappointed that their divine emperor ultimately proved to be merely human. Multiple stories examine love from various angles: it's a matter of fresh conquest in "Strawberry"; casual distraction in "Cars"; fatally performative in "True Love at Dawn"; destructively nonchalant in "Clock." Murder recurs as a desperate obsession to witness avicide in "The Peacocks" and as the horrific cost of proving loyalty in "The Strange Tale of Shimmering Moon Villa." Mishima shares autobiographical glimpses: his visit to San Francisco's Union Square inspires "The Flower Hat," and he inserts himself in "From the Wilderness," about an intruder breaking into his home demanding a meeting.
This sampling of Mishima's massive trove provides another intriguing look at his profound accomplishments. As with most collections, resonance may vary with these stories. That said, further access to Mishima's extraordinary oeuvre is an undeniable gift to fans and newbies alike. --Terry Hong