Yukio Mishima
From Philosopedia
Mishima, Yukio (14 January 1925 - 25 November 1970)
Mishima, the first Japanese novelist to win a Nobel prize, was called by Life “the Japanese Hemingway.” He had been born Kimitake Hiraoka of a samurai family and had worked in an aircraft factory during World War II. A Buddhist, he practiced physical fitness and the ancient arts of the samurai as a member of his Tatenokai (Shield Society).
Temple of the Golden Pavilion (1956) depicted a psychopathic monk who destroys the temple he loves. Other of his works are the semiautobiographical Confessions of a Mask (1949), The Sound of Waves (1954), and The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea (1963).
In 1958, he married Yoko Sugiyama, and they had a daughter (Noriko, born 2 June 1959) and a son (Iichiro, born 2 May 1962).
Jiro Fukushima, a male writer, is one of several who wrote of having had sex with Mishima, whose children successfully sued for his having violated their father's privacy.
Mishima trained with the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force (GSDF in 1967), after which he formed the Shield Society for patriotic young students in the GSDF who were interested in reviving samurai principles. Its aims:
• Communism is incompatible with Japanese tradition, culture and history and runs counter to the Emperor system.
• The Emperor is the sole symbol of our historical and cultural community and racial identity.
• The use of violence is justifiable in view of the threat posed by communism.
The emblem that Mishima designed for the society comprised two ancient Japanese helmets in red against a white silk background. The militia was designed to be a "stand by the army," described by Mishima as "the world's least armed, most spiritual army".
On the last day of his life, with four members of the society Mishima took by force the commandant of the Tokyo GSDF base and attempted to rally the soldiers to a coup d'etat. This demonstration against the army for its alleged lack of power under the Japanese constitution failed, and he and an alleged male lover committed seppuku - ritual self-disembowelment - and were beheaded. John Nathan's Mishima: A Biography (1974) suggests that the attempted coup was a pretext for the ritual suicide which he had been planning.
Kerry Bolton has described what happened:
- 25 November 1970 was chosen as the day that Mishima would fulfil his destiny as a Samurai. Four others from the Tatenokai joined him. All donned headbands bearing a Hagakure slogan. The aim was to take General Mishita hostage to enable Mishima to address the soldiers stationed at the Ichigaya army base in Tokyo. Mishima and his lieutenant Monta would then commit Hara-kiri. Only daggers and swords would be used in the assault, in accordance with Samurai tradition.
- The General was bound and gagged. Close fighting ensued as officers several times entered the general's office. Mishima and his small band each time forced the officers to retreat. Finally, they were herded out with broad strokes of Mishima's sword against their buttocks. A thousand soldiers assembled on the parade ground. Two of Mishima's men dropped leaflets from the balcony above, calling for a rebellion to "restore Nippon".
- At mid-day precisely Mishima appeared on the balcony to address the crowd. Shouting above the noise of helicopters he declared: "Japanese people today think of money, just money: Where is our national spirit today. The Jieitai [army] must be the soul of Japan."
- The soldiers jeered. Mishima continued: "The nation has no spiritual foundation. That is why you don't agree with me. You will just be American mercenaries. There you are in your tiny world. You do nothing for Japan." His last words were: "I salute the Emperor. Long live the emperor!"
- Morita joined him on the balcony in salute. Both returned to Mishita's office. Mishima knelt shouting a final salute, and plunged a dagger into his stomach, forcing it clockwise. Monta bungled the decapitation leaving it for another to finish it. Monta was then handed Mishima's dagger but called upon the swordsman who had finished off Mishima to do the job and Morita's head was knocked of in one swoop. The remaining followers stood the heads of Mishima and Morita together and prayed over them.
On the eve of his death, Mishima wrote two Columbia University professors, hoping they would judge his work sympathetically.
10,000 mourners attended Mishima's funeral, the largest of its kind ever held in Japan. "I want to make a poem of my life," Mishima had written when he was 24.
{The Economist, 11 November 1995}.
