TheTatenokai (楯の会, 楯の會) orShield Society was aprivate militia in Japan dedicated to traditional Japanese values and veneration of theEmperor.[2][3][4] It was founded and led by authorYukio Mishima.[3] The private militia was officially founded in 1968 for the purpose of preventingindirect aggression by proponents of foreign ideology seeking to destroy Japanese traditional culture, and protecting the dignity of the Emperor as a symbol of Japan's national identity.[5][3][6]
The Tatenokai was a militia organization that took over from its predecessor, the "Japan National Guard" (祖国防衛隊,Sokoku Bōeitai), which was founded in 1967.[3] The original members were the staff ofNew Right monthly magazineControversy Journal (論争ジャーナル,Ronsō jaanaru) and severalWaseda University students.[9] They had enlisted in theJapan Self-Defense Forces with Yukio Mishima in 1967, and after changing its name to Tatenokai, the group gradually increased its membership by allowing new students to enlist in the JSDF.[9]
The Tatenokai was officially founded on October 5, 1968. Mishima decided to increase the size of the private army due to his growing alarm over the scale ofleft-wing protests in Japan and to this end placed recruitment advertisements in right-wing newspapers. Membership ultimately rose to 100 members, most of whom were students at Waseda University.[10] Along with outdoor activities, the members, who joined voluntarily, were subjected to rigorous physical training that included kendo and long-distance running.[10]
The name "Tatenokai" (楯の会) was inspired by two traditional Japanesewaka poems: A poem from the "Poems of Defenders" (防人の歌,Sakimori no uta) series[a] included in theMan'yōshū, and a poem by 19th century poetTachibana Akemi.[3][7][8]
今日よりは 顧みなくて 大君の 醜の御楯と 出で立つ我は
(Kyō yori waKaeri minakuteŌkimi noShiko no mi-tate toIdetatsu ware wa)[b]
From today onwards / without any regard for myself, / I set out to become, / (although my shield may be insignificant) / a strong shield for the Great LordEmperor. — Imamatsuribe no Yosō (今奉部與曾布), "Poem of a Defender" (防人の歌,Sakimori no uta)[7]
大皇の 醜の御楯と いふ物は 如此る物ぞと 進め真前に
(Ōkimi noShiko no mi-tate toIu mono waKakaru mono zo toSusume masaki ni)
For the Great Lord Emperor / (although my shield may be insignificant) / thinking this is what a strong shield should be / I bravely forge ahead. — 橘曙覧 (Tachibana Akemi)[13]
Initially, they planned to write the name "Mitatekai" (御楯会) in allkanji, like the "Mitategumi" (御楯組), asonnō jōi organization active inChōshū Domain during theBakumatsu (end of the Edo period),[14][15] however, some members felt that using only kanji was too stiff, so they decided to add thehiragana "no" (の) to make it "Tatenokai" (楯の会) to add a softer nuance.[14][13]
On November 25, 1970 Mishima and four Tatenokai members briefly seized control of the Japan Self-Defense Force's headquarters and attempted to rally the soldiers to stage a coup d'état, and unsuccessfully tried to inspire the JSDF to rise up and overthrowArticle 9 of the1947 Constitution to restore autonomous national defense and the divinity of the emperor,[3][16] after which Mishima andMasakatsu Morita, the Tatenokai's student leader, committedseppuku (ritual suicide).[16] The rest of the members, around 90 people, were not informed about Mishima's plan at all.[17]
a "suicide squad" (決死隊,Kesshi-tai) member capable of slashing in Tatenokai
Morita was born inYokkaichi-shi,Mie Prefecture, he lost his father and mother to illness one after another when he was a toddler (the year he turns 3 years old), and was raised by his brother, who was 16 years older than him, and other his older sisters.[18][19] When his older brother and sisters got married, he was left in the care of his childless aunt, and when the aunt's husband died, he grew up living with his aunt in an outhouse on his older brother's house.[18] Morita grew up to be a cheerful and lively person,[18] but his high school diary was filled with his having a romantic notion of death, and his longing for his mother and father, who were likely living happily together in heaven.[20][19]
a "Kesshi-tai" member capable of slashing in Tatenokai
His nickname was "Chibi-Koga", to distinguish him from Koga (古賀), whose surname has the same pronunciation.[21][22] Further, he was short in height, and thekanji character "small", "little" (小,ko) in "koga" (小賀), so, by extension "tiny", "shorty" (チビ,chibi).[22]
Chibi-Koga was born inArida-shi,Wakayama Prefecture and lost his father due to illness at a young age.[23][24][25] His mother was a follower ofSeicho-no-Ie, a new religion,[23][24][25] so he also began attending training sessions for the religion and becoming a follower of it when he was in junior high school.[23][25]
2nd generation member, the vice leader of 5th team
His nickname was "Furu-Koga".[21] Thekanji character "old" (古,ko) in "koga" (古賀) can also be read as "furu i" (古い) inkun'yomi.
Furu-Koga was born inTakigawa-shi,Hokkaido, and his father, a former elementary school principal, was a lecturer at Seicho-no-Ie headquarters,[23][24][26] so he started participating in training sessions and becoming a believer in the religion in high school.[23][26]
Ogawa was born inSanbu-gun,Chiba Prefecture, and grew up with a father who was a former police officer and a mother who was a former teacher, as a boy interested in theEmperor and Japanese history.[27][28] Ogawa was usually quiet boy, but had an inner fortitude, and was a member of the cheerleading squad (応援団,Ōendan) at high school and university.[28]
On 3 March 1977, four Japanese nationalists took 12 hostages at the Keidanren Kaikan (headquarters of theJapan Federation of Economic Organizations), spreading leaflets at the scene that denouncedbig business. The hostages were released, unharmed, after an eleven-hour standoff during which the hostage-takers spoke for more than three hours to Mishima's widow, Yōko. Two of the hostage-takers – Yoshio Itō (伊藤好雄) and Shunichi Nishio (西尾俊一) – were former members of the Tatenokai.[29][30][31] This incident is called the "Japan Business Federation attack incident" (経団連襲撃事件,Keidanren shugeki jiken) in Japan.[30][31]
Notable members other than those involved in the Mishima Incident
He was Mishima's right-hand man, but left the group in the summer of 1969 to marry Yoshiko Matsuura (松浦芳子), a secretary staff at the Tatenokai, and find employment.[32] After he got married, his surname became his wife's, "Matsuura."[33]
In 1972, after theMishima Incident, he founded an ethnic nationalist group calledIssuikai (meaning to hold regular meetings on the first Wednesday of every month).[34][35]
Kiyoshi Kuramochi (倉持清), Waseda University
Born: May 14, 1947 –
1st generation member, the leader of 2nd team
a "Kesshi-tai" member capable of slashing in Tatenokai
Kuramochi was born in Ibaraki Prefecture.
Like Morita, Kuramochi was a candidate for student leader after Hiroshi Mochimaru left the Tatenokai. Mishima had been asked by Kuramochi, who was planning to marry, to act as a matchmaker, so he did not make Kuramochi a participant in the incident and left a will writing this to him.[36] After he got married, his surname became his wife's, "Honda."[37]
^"Sakimori" (防人) were soldiers stationed inKyushu during the ancientAsuka andHeian periods to guard against incursions by theTang dynasty andSilla.[11][7] The defenders numbered about 3,000, and most of them were from the eastern part of Japan (東国,Azuma no kuni; present-dayKantō region).[11][7]
^The meaning of "ugly" (醜,shiko) here expresses a feeling of self-deprecation and humility.[12][7]
^Bornoff, Nicholas, ed. (1991).Pink Samurai: The Pursuit and Politics of Sex in Japan. p. 432.
^Mishima, Yukio (21 January 1970).「変革の思想」とは―道理の実現 [What is "Thought of Revolution": Realization of the Reason].Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). collected inComplete36 2003, pp. 30–38 (of that in pp.33–35)
^Mishima, Yukio (November 1968).「楯の会」のこと [About the "Tatenokai"].Pamphlet Celebrating the First Anniversary of the Founding of the "Tatenokai" (in Japanese). collected inComplete35 2003, pp. 720–727 (of that in pp.724–725),Suzuki 2005, pp. 72–80 (of that in pp.77–78)
Mishima, Yukio (2003).決定版 三島由紀夫全集 第35巻 評論10 [Definitive Edition Yukio Mishima Complete Works No.35 – Criticisms 10] (in Japanese).Shinchosha.ISBN978-4-10-642575-2.
Mishima, Yukio (2003).決定版 三島由紀夫全集 第36巻 評論11 [Definitive Edition Yukio Mishima Complete Works No.36 – Criticisms 11] (in Japanese). Shinchosha.ISBN978-4-10-642576-9.
Satō, Hideaki; Inoue, Takashi; Yamanaka, Takeshi, eds. (2005).決定版 三島由紀夫全集 第42巻 年譜・書誌 [Definitive Edition Yukio Mishima Complete Works No.42 – Biographical Sketch and Bibliography] (in Japanese). Shinchosha.ISBN978-4-10-642582-0.
Andō, Takeshi (1998).三島由紀夫の生涯 [The Life of Yukio Mishima] (in Japanese). Natsume Shobo.ISBN978-4-931391-39-0.
Date, Munekatsu (1972).裁判記録「三島由紀夫事件」 [Judicial Record of the "Mishima Incident"] (in Japanese).Kodansha.NCIDBN0140450X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
Matsumoto, Tōru; Satō, Hideaki; Inoue, Takashi, eds. (2000).三島由紀夫事典 [Encyclopedia of Yukio Mishima] (in Japanese). Bensei Shuppan.ISBN978-4-585-06018-5.
Murakami, Takeo (2010).君たちには分からない―「楯の會」で見た三島由紀夫 [You Guys don't Understand: Yukio Mishima that I Saw in "Tatenokai"] (in Japanese). Shinchosha.ISBN978-4-10-327851-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
Murata, Haruki (2015).三島由紀夫が生きた時代―楯の会と森田必勝 [The Period when Yukio Mishima was Alive: The Tatenokai and Masakatsu Morita] (in Japanese). Seirindo.ISBN978-4-7926-0532-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
Nakamura, Akihiko (2015) [1st pub. Bungeishunjū:2000].三島事件 もう一人の主役―烈士と呼ばれた森田必勝 [Another Protagonist of the Mishima Incident: Masakatsu Morita who Called an Upright Man] (in Japanese) (Enlarged ed.). WAC inc.ISBN978-4-89831-729-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
Nathan, John (2000) [1st pub. 1976 (an out-of-print book)].新版 三島由紀夫─ある評伝 [New Edition – Mishima: A Biography] (in Japanese). Translated by Noguchi, Takehiko (New/Revised ed.). Shinchosha.ISBN978-4-10-505702-2.
Nishi, Hōtaro (2020).三島由紀夫事件 50年目の証言―警察と自衛隊は何を知っていたか [Yukio Mishima Incident – Testimonies of 50 Years Later: What did the Police and the Self-Defense Forces Know] (in Japanese). Shinchosha.ISBN978-4-10-353581-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
Suzuki, Ayumi; Tamura, Tsukasa, eds. (2015).火群のゆくへ―元楯の会会員たちの心の軌跡 [Whereabouts of the Flames: The Trajectories of Their Hearts who once Belonged to the Tatenokai] (in Japanese). Hakurosha.ISBN978-4-434-07066-2.
Yamadaira, Shigeki (2004).最後の浪人 阿部勉伝―酒抱きてけふも堕ちなん [A Biography of The LastRōnin, Tsutomu Abe: With a Sake Bottle in His Arms, He will Fall Again Today] (in Japanese). J's Keibunsha.ISBN978-4-905848-50-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
新潮 臨時増刊 三島由紀夫 没後三十年 [Shinchō – Extra Special Issue: Yukio Mishima 30 Years After His Death] (in Japanese). Shinchosha. 2000.ASINB007GZUN4K.NCIDBA49508943.
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