In November 1970 Yukio Mishima, together with some of his fanatical followers from the ultranationalistic Shield Society which he had founded in 1966, broke into the headquarters of Japan’s Eastern Defense Forces armed with swords and daggers, overpowered some aides, tied up the commanding general, and demanded that the troops be assembled to hear a speech. Mishima addressed the troops for ten minutes, inciting them to rebel against the constitutional government imposed by the United States that had, in his words, “turned Japan spineless”. Receiving only ridicule in response, he returned to the general’s office and there, before the general’s unbelieving eyes, proceeded to kill himself in strict accordance with the traditional samurai ritual of seppuku. After Mishima had driven a dagger deep into his left abdomen, one of his aides severed his head with a sword. The aide likewise killed himself and was beheaded; the others surrendered.
In 1936 there had been a similar revolt and, though equally unsuccessful, it had foreshadowed the repressive regime of General Tojo that was to stage the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. That earlier revolt is the one referred to in Patriotism, one of Mishima’s most powerful stories. Here life and fiction become joined. The act of seppuku was for Mishima a fulfillment, “the ultimate dream of my life.” Born of an ancient samurai family, he longed to die a hero’s death in accordance with the ancient samurai code; but his weak body kept him from service in the war, and he had to compensate through body building (he became expert at karate and kendo) and, most important, through the discipline of writing. In his short lifetime he turned out twenty novels, thirty plays, many essays, and more than eighty stories: he also produced, directed, and acted in movies, and even sang on stage. His first book of stories, A Forest in Flower, appeared in 1943, but it was Confession of a Mask (1948), dealing with the meditations of a young man of homosexual leanings in a repressive society, that brought him fame.
Mishima has been called “Japan’s Hemingway,” while others have compared him to “aesthetic” writers like Walter Peter and Oscar Wilde.
1.The article implies that （ ） .
2.The aim of the rebel led by Mishima was （ ）.
3.In the 1970 rebel, the speech made by Mishima （ ） .
4.What is true according to the article?
5.Mishima became a well-known writer after he had （ ）.
