11/25 The Day Mishima Chose His Own Fate

On November 25th 1970, Yukio Mishima, one of Japan's greatest and most celebrated novelists, committed seppuku - the samurai warrior's death - tearing open his belly with a ceremonial knife inside the Tokyo headquarters of the Japanese Ministry of Defence. What was Mishima truly trying to express through his actions? What did he witness during his final moments? The 1960s saw an international surge of protest against the 1951 Japan-US Security Treaty. Student activism in Japan was also gaining momentum towards social change, with widespread support from farmers and labourers. It was from the ranks of these latter activists that Mishima formed his Tatenokai.