No one had died by seppuku since the last days of World War Two. The prime minister’s speech on the government agenda for the coming year was somewhat overshadowed. It was the morning of the opening of the 64th session of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, and the Emperor himself was present. But what had seemed to be posturing had suddenly become very real. He was a literary celebrity, a macho and provocative but also rather ridiculous character, perhaps akin to Norman Mailer in the US, or Michel Houellebecq in today’s France. Mishima’s death shocked the Japanese public. Mishima stepped back inside and said: “I don’t think they heard me.” Then he knelt down and killed himself by seppuku, the Samurai’s ritual suicide. The audience, at first politely quiet, or just stunned into silence, soon drowned him out with jeers. He railed against the US-backed state and constitution, berated the soldiers for their submissiveness and challenged them to return the Emperor to his pre-war position as living god and national leader.
He was Japan’s most famous living novelist when, on 25 November 1970, he went to an army base in Tokyo, kidnapped the commander, had him assemble the garrison, then tried to start a coup. The figure is Yukio Mishima, real name Kimitake Hiraoka. Urn:oclc:867729972 Republisher_date 20120413030509 Republisher_operator Scandate 20120412055350 Scanner on a balcony, as if on stage, the small, immaculate figure appeals to the army assembled below.
OL18172283W Page-progression lr Page_number_confidence 96.21 Pages 366 Ppi 600 Related-external-id urn:isbn:0006372341 Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 04:03:02 Boxid IA150401 Boxid_2 CH116401 Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II City New York NY Date-raw NovemDonorįriendsofthesanfranciscopubliclibrary Edition 1.
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