Yukio Mishima Cemetery in Fuchū, Tokyo. Much speculation has surrounded Mishima's suicide. At the time of his death he had just completed the final book in his "Sea of Fertility" tetralogy. He was recognized as one of the most important post-war stylists of the Japanese language. Mishima wrote 34 novels, about 50 plays, about 25 books of short stories, and at least 35 books of essays, one libretto, as well as one film. A 1985 biographical film by Paul Schrader titled "" depicts his life and work; however, it has never been given a theatrical presentation in Japan. On July 3, 1999,
Yukio Mishima that all those deaths were in vain. In the final ten years of his life, Mishima wrote several full-length plays, acted in several films, and co-directed an adaptation of one of his stories, "Patriotism, the Rite of Love and Death." He also continued work on his final tetralogy, "The Sea of Fertility" ("Hōjō no Umi"), which appeared in monthly serialized format from September 1965. Mishima espoused a very individual brand of nationalism towards the end of his life. He was hated by leftists, in particular for his outspoken commitment to bushido, the code of the samurai, and by mainstream nationalists