Yukio Mishima
“Finishing The Sea of Fertility makes me feel as if it is the end of the world.”
Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) is the most famous modern Japanese novelist for a reason completely unrelated to his writing. On November 25, 1970, angered by Japan’s abject acceptance of Western lifestyles and materialism in the post-war period, he led a group of disciples from the Tatenokai (楯の会, "Shield Society" - a civilian militia he had founded) to the military barracks in central Tokyo. He addressed the assembled soldiers hoping that he may incite them to a coup which would restore the power to the Emperor that had been taken away after the WW2 surrender. When it became clear they would not listen to his entreaties he then committed ritual suicide (Seppuku). It stunned the world, and though I was not yet out of primary school at that stage, I still remember the TV news broadcast.
Later I came to appreciate Mishima’s extraordinary writing, especially the novel based on the true account of a monk burning down the beautiful old wooden Temple of the Golden Pavilion (kinkaku-ji) in Kyoto in 1950. Now thankfully it has been rebuilt and remains one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
But Mishima, like most geniuses, was an extremely complicated man. A titanic intellectual with a driven personality, he was a fitness fanatic, an actor and film maker, and a passionate believer in restoring Japan to its once great spiritual and political power. He also believed that his literary art could ignite a spark of renewal to make Japan great again. If not for his political views he would almost certainly have won a Nobel Prize. No Japanese writer has ever been as prolific or as deeply understanding of world literature.
In 1985 a film directed by Paul Schrader tried to piece together this complicated life: “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters”. The sound track by Philip Glass is quite compelling. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukio_Mishima
To some “The Sea of Fertility” is Mishima’s greatest novel – comparable to Tolstoy or Dostoevsky. Consisting of four quartets, “Spring Snow”, “Runaway Horses”, “The Temple of Dawn” and “The Decay of the Angel”, it was completed in October 1970. And so it really did prefigure the end of the world for Yukio Mishima.
Also in this still life: Japanese pottery.
Nearly every one of the 47 prefectures in Japan makes their own unique ceramic ware, using locally available materials, from earthy unadorned clay bowls to highly decorative white porcelain. This great variety of Japanese ceramics tend to be named according to their place of origin, including Karatsu ware, Imari ware, Mino ware, and many more. You will also see the names written with the suffix yaki (焼), which means fired as in fired ceramic ware.
japanobjects.com/features/japanese-pottery
A Sake jug - Aizu-Hongo Ware (Fukushima).
"Aizu-Hongo ware is a traditional craft from the region of Aizu, in Fukushima prefecture, with a history of about four hundred years. Aizu-Hongo pottery, which is thought to have started during the Sengoku period (1467-1600), was patronized and promoted by the lord of the Aizu domain at the beginning of the Edo period (1603-1868). Comprising both ceramics and porcelain, sometimes produced in the same kiln, Aizu-Hongo is area with the longest history of white porcelain production in northeastern Japan.
The differentiating feature of Aizu-Hongo-yaki (会津本郷焼) is its varied types of decoration including a blue ore named asbolite, traditional Japanese dyes, enamel, and western paints. Aizu-Hongo pottery tends to be very practical. It includes celadon and white porcelain, carbonization, as well as different textures and finishes such as glossy and matte."
japanobjects.com/features/japanese-pottery
Two small Japanese Imari porcelain bottle vases (c.1890).
These were made around the town of Arita, in Saga prefecture. “Imari ware is delicate and lightweight. Its fine transparent white porcelain, and its colors, indigo, bright red and sometimes gold, make it easily recognizable.” japanobjects.com/features/japanese-pottery
Yukio Mishima
“Finishing The Sea of Fertility makes me feel as if it is the end of the world.”
Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) is the most famous modern Japanese novelist for a reason completely unrelated to his writing. On November 25, 1970, angered by Japan’s abject acceptance of Western lifestyles and materialism in the post-war period, he led a group of disciples from the Tatenokai (楯の会, "Shield Society" - a civilian militia he had founded) to the military barracks in central Tokyo. He addressed the assembled soldiers hoping that he may incite them to a coup which would restore the power to the Emperor that had been taken away after the WW2 surrender. When it became clear they would not listen to his entreaties he then committed ritual suicide (Seppuku). It stunned the world, and though I was not yet out of primary school at that stage, I still remember the TV news broadcast.
Later I came to appreciate Mishima’s extraordinary writing, especially the novel based on the true account of a monk burning down the beautiful old wooden Temple of the Golden Pavilion (kinkaku-ji) in Kyoto in 1950. Now thankfully it has been rebuilt and remains one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
But Mishima, like most geniuses, was an extremely complicated man. A titanic intellectual with a driven personality, he was a fitness fanatic, an actor and film maker, and a passionate believer in restoring Japan to its once great spiritual and political power. He also believed that his literary art could ignite a spark of renewal to make Japan great again. If not for his political views he would almost certainly have won a Nobel Prize. No Japanese writer has ever been as prolific or as deeply understanding of world literature.
In 1985 a film directed by Paul Schrader tried to piece together this complicated life: “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters”. The sound track by Philip Glass is quite compelling. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukio_Mishima
To some “The Sea of Fertility” is Mishima’s greatest novel – comparable to Tolstoy or Dostoevsky. Consisting of four quartets, “Spring Snow”, “Runaway Horses”, “The Temple of Dawn” and “The Decay of the Angel”, it was completed in October 1970. And so it really did prefigure the end of the world for Yukio Mishima.
Also in this still life: Japanese pottery.
Nearly every one of the 47 prefectures in Japan makes their own unique ceramic ware, using locally available materials, from earthy unadorned clay bowls to highly decorative white porcelain. This great variety of Japanese ceramics tend to be named according to their place of origin, including Karatsu ware, Imari ware, Mino ware, and many more. You will also see the names written with the suffix yaki (焼), which means fired as in fired ceramic ware.
japanobjects.com/features/japanese-pottery
A Sake jug - Aizu-Hongo Ware (Fukushima).
"Aizu-Hongo ware is a traditional craft from the region of Aizu, in Fukushima prefecture, with a history of about four hundred years. Aizu-Hongo pottery, which is thought to have started during the Sengoku period (1467-1600), was patronized and promoted by the lord of the Aizu domain at the beginning of the Edo period (1603-1868). Comprising both ceramics and porcelain, sometimes produced in the same kiln, Aizu-Hongo is area with the longest history of white porcelain production in northeastern Japan.
The differentiating feature of Aizu-Hongo-yaki (会津本郷焼) is its varied types of decoration including a blue ore named asbolite, traditional Japanese dyes, enamel, and western paints. Aizu-Hongo pottery tends to be very practical. It includes celadon and white porcelain, carbonization, as well as different textures and finishes such as glossy and matte."
japanobjects.com/features/japanese-pottery
Two small Japanese Imari porcelain bottle vases (c.1890).
These were made around the town of Arita, in Saga prefecture. “Imari ware is delicate and lightweight. Its fine transparent white porcelain, and its colors, indigo, bright red and sometimes gold, make it easily recognizable.” japanobjects.com/features/japanese-pottery