Thirst for Love pre-Oedipal complex running through this and several other Mishima texts. "Thirst for Love" was translated into English by Alfred H. Marks (Alfred A. Knopf, 1969). On November 25, 1970, Mishima committed suicide. A paperback edition was released July 1971 from Berkley Books. "Ai no Kawaki" was made into a 1967 film with the same title, directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara, with Ruriko Asaoka playing Etsuko. Thirst for Love Thirst for Love (or 愛の渇き, Ai no Kawaki) is a 1950 novel by the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. The word "kawaki" literally means "thirst", but has a sense of parched dryness associated with
Go Mishima his commanding officer. Upon the end of the Second World War in 1945, Mishima relocated to Tokyo, where he immersed himself in the nascent gay nightlife of the city. Many bars and nightclubs during this era were operated by the yakuza; Mishima's fascination with their crew cut hairstyles and irezumi tattoos would figure heavily into his art. During the late 1950s, Mishima discovered the art of Tom of Finland, who came to influence his own work. In 1955, Mishima met the writer Yukio Mishima at a gym, and formed a friendship on their shared interest in athletics, bodybuilding, and hypermasculine