I’ve been fascinated with Japanese author Yukio Mishima for quite a while now.
On the one hand, he’s an amazing author, who is able to draw vivid images in the minds of his readers. He was nominated for a Nobel Prize five times in the 1960s and is now considered one of the leading writers of the 20th century, both in Japan and abroad.
On the other hand, he was a staunch nationalist, holding a whole bunch of greatly disturbing ideas. He idealized the martial arts and the old lifestyle of the samurai, detested consumerism and democracy and wanted all power to return to the emperor.
These ideas and ideals led him to commit ritual suicide at the age of 45. Sadly, his life didn’t quite end like he had thought it would… I’ve written about this in a short, free “tidbit” over on Yamato. Enjoy!
https://yamatomagazine.substack.com/p/the-last-seppuku-ritual-suicide