Yasunari Kawabata had Parkinson's disease), a possible illicit love affair, or the shock caused by the suicide of his friend Yukio Mishima in 1970. Unlike Mishima, Kawabata left no note, and since (again unlike Mishima) he had not discussed significantly in his writings the topic of taking his own life, his motives remain unclear. However, his Japanese biographer, Takeo Okuno, has related how he had nightmares about Mishima for two or three hundred nights in a row, and was incessantly haunted by the specter of Mishima. In a persistently depressed state of mind, he would tell friends during his last years that
Yukio Araki Yukio Araki Yukio Araki ( "Araki Yukio", March 10, 1928 - May 27, 1945) was a Japanese aviator of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. As a member of the 72nd Shinbu Squadron, Araki's final mission took place on May 27, 1945 during the Battle of Okinawa when he flew his bomb-laden Mitsubishi Ki-51 to deliberately crash into the USS "Braine". It is speculated that Araki and one other pilot are responsible for hitting the ship, killing 66 of its crew. At 17 years old, Araki is one of the youngest kamikaze pilots of World War II. Araki