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
Michiharu Mishima Michiharu Mishima Mishima was born in Azabu, Tōkyō, to an aristocratic family. His grandfather Michitsune Mishima had been ennobled as a viscount in the new Japanese nobility in 1884, while his father was Yatarō Mishima, the 8th Governor of the Bank of Japan. His mother was Marquis Takauta Shijō (四条 隆謌 "Shijō Takauta")'s third daughter, Kaneko (加根子), through whom he was related to the old court aristocracy and the greater Fujiwara clan. His younger sister was married to Yoshi Hijikata. He was a Peers School graduate, and succeeded his father as the third Viscount Mishima in 1919. Mishima was a