The favourite Tokyo bars and diners of Yukio Mishima
The likes of Kobe Abe and Haruki Murakami are often touted as being the most significant writers of Japan, but Yukio Mishima is equally deserving of such acclaim. Known and celebrated for his fiercely intense works of literature and his notorious suicide in 1970, Mishima’s writing was defined by its contrast between modernity and tradition and its elegant, poetic style of prose.
After experiencing the horrors of World War II in his home country, Mishima found that Japan was rapidly changing, and as a fierce nationalist, he staged a failed military coup that eventually led to death by his own hand. However, he left behind an astonishing legacy as a writer with the likes of The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Confessions of a Mask and The Sea of Fertility trilogy, proving his literary genius.
That’s Mishima the artist, and Mishima the politician, but what about Mishima the man? According to an article by The Japan Times, Mishima had enjoyed a tot or two when he was not writing his novels or trying to reinstate political power to the emperor, and he had a number of favourite bars spread across his native Tokyo.
First up is Donzoko in Shinjuku, where a secret ingredient in the signature cocktail has never been guessed. Mishima had enjoyed the lively atmosphere of the bar back in his day, and the interior is said to be exactly the same as when the famed author had sipped at his drink, chatted to the patrons – including Akira Kurosawa – and devised his next novels.
Mishima has also been known to attend Bar Non-non at the top of the Hilltop Hotel in Chiyoda. There’s a tiny nine-seater bar in the hotel where famous Japanese authors like Shotaro Ikegami and Mishima might have mulled over their notes with attentive waiters eyeing up their drink levels, ready to top up at any moment.
Finally, Mishima was said to have enjoyed a gin and tonic at Kohaku in Bunkyo, which opened back in 1955. Owner Fumihiko Kimurai had originally trained as an engineer but was sent to the Tokyo Palace Hotel to retrain as a bartender when his mother opened a tiny bar. Mishima likely enjoyed the intimate atmosphere of the place, which now stocks a wide selection of fine wines and old whiskies.
Once suitably filled up with crisp, dry beer, a handful of gins and a few sakes, where might Mishima have liked to soak up the booze? According to an article by Time Out, the legendary author had a few favourite restaurants in Tokyo where one might find him late at night tucking into some tonkatsu or hot pot.
The first was Katsukichi, which opened back in 1962, but the other dates way back to 1909 and is a significant piece of Mishima’s history. Suegen was the place at which Mishima ate his last evening meal before setting out on his failed military coup attempt on November 25th, 1970. Savouring the shamo-nabe (gamecock hot pot), Mishima’s mind was likely on the future, not knowing that he would never taste his favourite meal again.
Mishima’s favourite bars and restaurants serve as a small literary guide through the writer’s native Tokyo. He was one of the most notorious literary figures in Japan, known and loved for his intensely emotional books and the fateful day on which he took his own life in humiliation. Now we know the kind of places where the ingenious artist liked to unwind from the stresses of being an author and spend a few hours just being like everyone else.
