Writing for the Evening Standard, Ian Thomson gave the novel a rave review, calling it 'a sexy, camp delight. James Smart of The Guardian wrote, 'It may be only a footnote in his career, but this surreal tale offers a trenchant critique of a city that has misplaced its soul.' Publishers Weekly gave the novel a positive review, writing, 'Mishima's pungent insights into the challenges of postwar Japanese life are threaded brilliantly throughout' but felt, 'The novel handles its female characters poorly, using them in a disposable way that feels dated.' ĭavid Barnett, writing for The Independent, called the novel 'funny and horrific and curious and thoroughly entertaining and should win Mishima a new generation of fans.'

The English translation received a wider release in paperback by Vintage International on 21 April 2020. The novel was translated into English by Stephen Dodd, the Professor of Japanese Literature at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and published in paperback format in the United Kingdom by Penguin Classics on 1 August 2019. It was domestically published in hardcover format by Shueisha on 25 December 1968 and in paperback by Chikuma Bunko thirty years later on 24 February 1998. Life for Sale was first serialised in Weekly Playboy twenty-one times between 21 May and 8 October in 1968. Yamada's life is shaken up when he agrees to the increasingly bizarre requests of those who respond to his offer. Hanio Yamada is a 27-year-old copywriter for Tokyo Ad who, after a suicide attempt, quits his job and advertises his own life for sale in a Tokyo newspaper. In 2018, the novel was adapted as a BS TV Tokyo television drama starring Aoi Nakamura as Hanio Yamada. The novel was translated into English by Stephen Dodd and published in paperback format in the United Kingdom by Penguin Classics on 1 August 2019. It was published in paperback by Chikuma Bunko on 24 February 1998. It was published in hardcover format by Shueisha on 25 December 1968. It was first serialised twenty-one times in the weekly magazine Weekly Playboy between and 8 October 1968.

Life for Sale ( Japanese: 命売ります, Hepburn: Inochi Urimasu) is a 1968 novel by Yukio Mishima.

Forbidden Colors by Yukio Mishima