Yukio Mishima on it through the end of World War II. In January 1946, he visited famed writer Yasunari Kawabata in Kamakura, taking with him the manuscripts for and "Tabako", and asking for Kawabata's advice and assistance. In June 1946, following Kawabata's recommendations, "Tabako" was published in the new literary magazine . Also in 1946, Mishima began his first novel, , a story about two young members of the aristocracy drawn towards suicide. It was published in 1948, placing Mishima in the ranks of the Second Generation of Postwar Writers. He followed with "Confessions of a Mask", a semi-autobiographical account of a
Michiharu Mishima Michiharu Mishima Mishima was born in Azabu, Tōkyō, to an aristocratic family. His grandfather Michitsune Mishima had been ennobled as a viscount in the new Japanese nobility in 1884, while his father was Yatarō Mishima, the 8th Governor of the Bank of Japan. His mother was Marquis Takauta Shijō (四条 隆謌 "Shijō Takauta")'s third daughter, Kaneko (加根子), through whom he was related to the old court aristocracy and the greater Fujiwara clan. His younger sister was married to Yoshi Hijikata. He was a Peers School graduate, and succeeded his father as the third Viscount Mishima in 1919. Mishima was a