Photo/Illutration “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” ((c) 1985 The M Film Company)

After 40 years, the critically acclaimed film “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” finally got a screening in Japan, at the recent Tokyo International Film Festival. 

It had remained a mystery why the biographical film about writer Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) didn’t see the light of day in his home country for decades after its release in 1985.

Paul Schrader, the U.S. filmmaker who directed the film, said that was because Mishima was “a taboo subject” at the time of the film's release. 

Schrader is also known for writing the screenplay for the Academy Award-nominated “Taxi Driver.”

In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, Schrader said he was drawn to Mishima after his older brother Leonard, who is a screenwriter, told him about the author.

Leonard once served as a lecturer at Doshisha University in Kyoto, and he was in Japan when Mishima committed suicide in the hara-kiri manner inside the office of the commandant at the Eastern Headquarters of the Ground Self-Defense Force in Tokyo’s Ichigaya district.

“I have written about this character in ‘Taxi Driver,’ about that kind of distorted thought process,” the director said.

“This idea that through our own suffering, we can become exotic and transcendent ... in the destructive way of thinking. But it does have this appeal,” he added, explaining that one of his motivations to make the film was that Mishima was “the same character as the taxi driver.”

“I don’t believe what happened in Ichigaya in November 1970 was a political act,” he continued, saying that it was Mishima’s final piece of theater based on his aesthetic.

“I don’t think he planned to start a revolution.”

Mishima’s widow had been opposed to the production even before filming began.

The project also provoked antipathy from right-wing groups, who viewed Mishima as the symbol of themselves and thought it was “a blasphemy” to see a film about the life of the “national hero” made by foreigners.

“When we started shooting, I was wearing a stab-proof vest,” Schrader said.

Although the production was given a green light, “Mishima” never made it to theaters in Japan.

The director also recalled that when he was invited to a dinner at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, no one wanted to talk about Mishima.

The same went for a party held for Japanese film industry members in Cannes.

“I don’t think it’s a controversial subject anymore,” Schrader said. “It would be nice to have it shown in an ample setup.”

“Mishima” starred Ken Ogata, with Eiko Ishioka serving as production designer.

The film won Best Artistic Contribution at the 1985 Cannes International Film Festival.

While the movie was theatrically released in the United States, it was never shown in theaters or released on video in Japan.

When the TIFF announced in October that it would showcase "Mishima" during its run on Oct. 30, tickets sold out in about 10 minutes after they went on sale on Oct. 18.

Schrader was also present at the venue and said he had believed the film would be screened in Japan someday but he wasn't sure he would be alive then.

“I always wanted to see it in a cinema ever since I learned about the film through social media a few years ago,” a 38-year-old college teacher from Nagoya said excitedly.

After receiving a flood of inquiries, the TIFF held additional screenings on Nov. 8 and 9.

There are also voices on social media calling for a theatrical release of the film.

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