Life for Sale opens with the protagonist, Hanio Yamada, putting his life up for sale in a Tokyo newspaper with a bleak, irresolute attitude after having failed to go through with suicide. Through doing so, he exposes himself to the corrupt, hidden underbelly of Tokyo: from viscous mobsters to vampires Life for Sale encompasses comedic and satirical elements as well as including existential thoughts – particularly on life’s worth.

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Yukio Mishima (1925-1970), the pen name for Kimitake Hiraoka, was not only known for his political extremist activities but also considered as one of the most prominent and important Japanese authors of the 20th century. Born in 1925 in Tokyo, he graduated 22 years later from Tokyo Imperial University to continue to write novellas, novels and for kabuki plays until his early untimely death. Mishima’s works are often noted to be characterised by exuberant vocabulary and decadent concepts both combining traditional Japanese and modern western elements. 

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