312 Yukio Mishima

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Books, Arts

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 March 2021

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In November of 1970, the most famous novelist in Japan dropped off the final pages of his masterpiece with his publisher, then went to a military office in Tokyo, where he and a small band of supporters took the commander hostage. The novelist - whose name was Yukio Mishima - then appeared on the balcony before a crowd of a thousand soldiers and supporters. After exhorting them to overthrow the Japanese government and return Japan to its proud imperial past, he stepped away from the balcony and committed seppuku, the ritualized suicide made famous by samurai warriors from Japan's legendary shogunate period. Who was Mishima? What brought him to this point in his life? In this episode, Jacke takes a look at the turbulent life and dramatic death of Yukio Mishima (1925-1970). PLUS a special announcement!! Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following Jacke and Mike on Twitter at @thejackewilson and @literatureSC. Or send an email to [email protected]. New!!! Looking for an easy to way to buy Jacke a coffee? Now you can at paypal.me/jackewilson. Your generosity is much appreciated! The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature podcast is a member of the Podglomerate Network and LitHub Radio.
0:13.0	Hello. On November 25, 1970, the most famous novelist in Japan finished the fourth book
0:19.8	in the tetralogy that is now considered his masterpiece. He dropped off the work with
0:24.6	his publisher, then went and stormed an army headquarters in Tokyo. After he and
0:30.4	four of his followers took the commander hostage, he appeared on a balcony before a crowd
0:35.3	of a thousand and called for an uprising that would overthrow the Japanese government
0:40.8	and return Japan to its pre-war society, exhorting the crowd to swear allegiance to
0:47.1	the Emperor. When the coup fizzled out, he stepped back inside, pulled out a sword,
0:53.8	then plunged it into his own stomach, committing sepaku, the ritualized suicide by disemballment.
1:01.8	A loyal comrade was there to help to capitate him, which was also part of the plan. His name
1:08.8	was Yukio Mishima, and his dramatic death was the capstone to a tumultuous life, with
1:15.0	artistic highs matched by the intensity of his political ideas. Rarely has a major literary
1:21.5	figure worked so hard to mold his identity, and yet, like a man with a million masks,
1:28.5	the reality is elusive, which is perhaps just as it should be.
1:34.2	How did this man go from his boyhood and a distinguished family to a serious contender
1:39.0	for the Nobel Prize for Literature to a man killing himself in a dramatic effort that
1:44.6	experts say was not just a cutting off of his life, but its very culmination. We'll
1:50.9	have the astonishing story of Yukio Mishima today on the History of Literature.
1:57.9	Okay, here we go. Hello everyone. Welcome to the podcast episode 312 of this struggling
2:20.0	little podcast. I'm Jack Wilson. I'm so glad you could join us today.
2:23.6	Yukio Mishima, we're 50 years beyond him now, time for history to start to take a reckoning.
2:30.8	He was close to being a household name in the 60s and early 70s in America, and certainly
	...

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