Mishima,Yukio, mih SHEE muh or MEE shee mah,YOO kee oh (1925-1970), was a Japanese novelist, playwright, and essayist. He was one of Japan's most famous literary personalities and shocked the nation by committing ritual suicide in public view in Tokyo. Mishima was a critic of modern democratic values and was concerned about what he saw as Japan's spiritual emptiness following the end of World War II in 1945. His writings celebrate the code of loyalty and ethics of Japan's traditional military class called samurai.