Mishima: Thoughts and Perspectives

THE well-known author, Yukio Mishima (1925-1970), remains one of the greatest figures in Japanese literature and he was also an accomplished poet, actor, playwright and film director. Inspired by the traditional principles of the Samurai texts, Mishima was a fierce critic of post-1945 Japan and made the ultimate sacrifice for his beliefs. On November 25th, 1970, shortly after completing his four-volume Sea of Fertility, Mishima and several other committed members of the Tatenokai, or Shield Society, stormed the commandant's office at the Self-Defence Forces headquarters in Tokyo and delivered a stirring nationalistic speech to the assembled troops which had gathered beneath the balcony. Consequently, Japan's most famous and controversial personality committed ritual suicide (seppuku) and was immortalised forever. The material discussed in this original and ground-breaking study from Black Front Press, includes 'The Immortal Death of Mishima'; 'Hidden Among the Leaves: Yukio Mishima and Hagakure'; 'Warrior of the Rising Sun'; 'Mishima Contra Nihilism'; 'Twentieth-Century Samurai'; 'Discovering Mishima'; 'Production Without Capital: Mishima's Lost World'; 'Damn Japs: The People It's Okay to Hate'; and 'Mishima in 1968'. A distinguished array of contributors includes Troy Southgate (Editor), Douglas P., Koichi Toyama, K. R. Bolton, Dimitris Michalopoulos, Wulf, Christopher Pankhurst, John Howells and Vijay Prozak.