In light of some recent discussion concerning authors and stories, I felt it was apt to bring up a particular topic which I was originally going to mention in my post about Constitution Day and controversial symbolism - Yukio Mishima.
I'm certain that most people in Japan of at least a high school graduate age are aware of Yukio Mishima, even if they aren't familiar with his work. It's difficult to give a nutshell summary of his life, but as briefly as I can, he was a Japanese author born in 1925 who had a childhood spread between being raised by his grandmother who rarely let him venture outside or participate in "boyish" activities, and his militaristic father who held a disdain for any sort of effeminate behaviour. Mishima falsified medical conditions to avoid being drafted to fight in WW2, and against his father's wishes, furthered his passion of writing into and beyond his teen years. He penned numerous novels, plays and short stories, and later in life developed an interest in bodybuilding, ultra-nationalism, and eventually formed his own private militia, the
Tatenokai. On November 25, 1975, Mishima and members of the Tatenokai attempted to stage a coup d'etat at a Self Defence Forces base in Tokyo, aiming to reinstate the Emperor as the political power of Japan through an address on a balcony to the soldiers below. Upon its failure, Mishima retreated into the building, committed
seppuku, and was beheaded by one of his followers.
First of all, I admit that I haven't even come close to reading a sizeable portion of his work, so extensive (and occasionally impenetrable) is his oeuvre. But whilst his novels tell genuinely captivating tales, I find the story of Mishima himself far more fascinating. The transformation from a timid, frail, and effeminate young man into a brutal, narcissistic nationalist with a fascination for death, combined with his not-so-closeted homosexuality, is rather unique. However, it seems he is often brushed off by many as simply being a "crazy man" or "a bit strange".
To me, Mishima is also one of many pieces in the puzzle of Japan's struggle to assert and identify itself in the postwar period. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, comfort women, Nanjing, SCAP Occupation, Yasukuni Shrine, history revisionism, etc., all play into this issue (and is an enormously broad topic about which volumes can and have been written!). Unto this, Mishima seems to have been adopted by numerous right-wing groups in Japan as a sort of inspirational figurehead (have a look at
this link) despite his contrasting belief that Emperor Hirohito should have taken responsibility for those who died during the war.
Now, having said all that and having made a huge segue into right-wing groups, one point I'd like to get across is that I can't stand these twits. Not because of their politics or radical ideologies, but mainly because of the noise pollution they create. I'm not quite sure how the police manage to turn a blind eye (or rather, a deaf ear) to such a disturbance, as these groups would undoubtedly have their vehicles and equipment confiscated if they attempted to drive around blaring slogans and music in other countries. On a similar level, the police seem completely uninterested in reining in various
bousouzoku bike gangs creating all kinds of noise at 4 o'clock in the morning, but appear quite willing to stop foreigners on their bicycles for no apparent reason...
Right, it's about time I went to bed!
