Since Japan's post-war constitution was drafted in 1947, there have been protests by some about Japan's lack of military force to properly defend itself. The first protests and criticism took place in 1950 when U.S. troops were emptied from Japan and sent to Korea. Many Japanese felt that with the U.S. military presence reduced to minimum, Japan was completely defenseless, since at that time there was no domestic military force of any kind. To pacify those critics, the Jiei Tai, the Japan Self Defense Force was created, but it was bound by very strict rules that did not allow it to perform any function that could be interpreted as offensive action, it was strictly a self defense force, as its name implied, and its activities were confined to the Japanese islands only.
There were those who objected to Jiei Tai's confined and restrictive role as a military force. But they were branded as extremists, militarists who were trying to bring Japan back to its pre-war state of being! Perhaps some of them were militarists and perhaps some were not. Most critics of Japan's military force's role claimed that Japan was emasculated, that its ancient traditions and culture were being ignored. One such critic was a politician/journalist by the name of Shintaro Ishihara who went on to become a member of the Japanese Diet (parliament) and held a number of political positions such as Minister of Defense and Mayor of Tokyo. Ishihara, throughout his career was a proponent of a stronger military for Japan. Ishihara was a militarist.
But perhaps no one person was able to bring attention to this situation, i.e., Japan's lack of proper military force, than a very popular writer with controversial views by the name of Yukio Mishima. Mishima, possibly the most celebrated and widely read Japanese writer of his generation, was known for his controversial views on politics and eccentric behavior. Mishima created his own army, called it Tate no Kai (the Blue Shield Society) after a patriotic samurai organization of the historical past. He created his "mock" army to rub the nose of the Japanese government and its, at the time, very ineffectual Jiei Tai. Mishima's "army," though small, was better dressed, and better "motivated" than Jiei Tai. They were all followers of Mishim's philosophy, that of Japan's need to return to its traditional warrior culture.
Mishima, throughout his writing career, tried to express his views on the subject of Japan's need to return to its roots, the warrior culture. His popular novella, Patriotism, was even made into a movie, produced, directed and starring Mishima himself! Patriotism was about Ni Ni Roku Jiken, the February 2, 1936 Incident in which a group of army officers rebelled, committed gekokujo and assassinated the Prime Minister. It was the turning point in Japan, changing its government from civilian to military dominated and controlled. Mishima obviously was very much taken by the gekokujo of 1936. He often talked about it and hinted that perhaps that is what Japan needed to snap out of its, what he considered, a malaise.
On November 25, 1970, Mishima, along with some members of his Tate No Kai, went to visit the commanding general of Jiei Tai (army) headquarters in Tokyo. The general was a personal friend of Mishima so access was easy. There they overpowered the general and tied him to a chair. Then Mishima addressed the gathered troops from a balcony. He urged them to revolt, to follow him in a gekokujo, to arise and return to Japan's warrior past and abandon western materialism, etc. Of course no one listened to him. He was booed by the soldiers and called a fool. No doubt Mishima knew this was going to happen. He returned to the office and in the presence of the horrified general committed ritual seppuku by disemboweling himself (just like the character in his best selling novella Patriotism) with an ancient sword. He had one of his Tate No Kai members cut his head off. This was a perfect example of life imitating art rather than art imitating life! This horrific and senseless incident was immediately tagged by the media as the "Mishima Incident" or Mishima Jiken!
Although Mishima's manifesto and speech from the balcony may have seemed confusing and somewhat muddled, he knew exactly what he was doing. Mishima was not seeking Japan's return to its pre-war militaristic past. Rather, he was thinking more of the age of samurai, the ancient past, rather a foolish and romantic view. Whatever the case, it was not militarism that he sought. There is much confusion by those unfamiliar with Japanese culture about the difference between warrior culture and militarism. To most, the two are the same when in reality, they are distinctly different.
Mishima chose the day of his death very carefully. November 25th was the anniversary of the Shinpuren Incident, a 19th century event in which sword wielding samurai fought against rifles and machineguns of the modern Japanese army. This incident was the basis for the movie The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise. Shinpuren Incident was essentially a clash between warrior culture and modern militarism. In a twisted sense, Mishima with his gekokujo, was the "last samurai."
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