Political extremism in Japan his prewar, divine status, and repudiation of Article 9. Many, if not most, right-wingers had intimate connections with Japan's gangster underground, the yakuza. Japanese right-wing extremists (Uyoku dantai) are notable for their use of black buses, which often carry loudspeakers broadcasting nationalistic slogans. The ritual suicide of one of Japan's most prominent novelists, Mishima Yukio, following a failed attempt to initiate a rebellion among Self-Defense Forces units in November 1970, shocked and fascinated the public. Mishima and his small private army, the Shield Society (Tatenokai), hoped that a rising of the Self-Defense Forces would inspire a nationwide affirmation of the
Yukio Edano Yukio Edano Edano was born in Utsunomiya on 31 May 1964. He is named after Japanese liberal political figure Yukio Ozaki, who Edano's father admired. Edano graduated from Tohoku University with a degree in law, and passed the Japanese bar examination at the age of 24. In the 1993 general election, at the age of 29, Edano joined Morihiro Hosokawa's Japan New Party and won a seat in the Saitama 5th district. He participated in the formation of the "Old" DPJ in 1996. As a legislator, Edano played a role in the government response to the HIV-tainted blood scandal of