Shield Society ( я の 会 Tate-no kai ) is a private military organization founded by the writer and public figure of Japan, Yukio Mishima , which existed from 1968 to 1970 .
Content
Design and Origins
In December 1966, Yukio Mishima met with young activists from the right-wing radical journal Spor , and their energy and dedication made a big impression on him. In April - May 1967, he was experimentally allowed to undergo military training with the soldiers of the Self-Defense Forces of Japan , and then the writer had an idea to create and lead a militarized association of patriotic youth, built on the ideology of deification of the emperor and reckless devotion to the motherland.
In March 1968, with the mediation of a student at Waseda University and an activist in the Student League of Japan, Hiroshi Motimaru, the first twenty members of the Shield Society were recruited from among his classmates, after which they began their experimental participation in advanced military training at the Fuji School at the Takigahara garrison. Soon, new sets of cadets from among students of various universities followed. The oldest student was Motimaru himself. On October 5, 1968, the opening ceremony of the “Shield Society” was held at the teacher’s house in the Toranomon district. On November 4, Mishima held a special press conference, but the response from the journalists was extremely skeptical and even mocking.
Further developments and the end of the Shield Society
In September 1969 , disagreeing with Mishima on a number of organizational and personal issues, Motimaru left the Shield Society after veterans from the Spore magazine. The elementary, but ardent patriot Masakatsu Morita , who became very close to Mishima, became the senior student. On November 3, a parade was held on the roof of the State Theater . Soon after, four cadets rallied closely around Mishima: Morita, two namesakes - Masayoshi Koga and Hiromasu Koga, and Masahiro Ogawa, with whose participation it was planned, and on November 25, 1970 , a terrorist act based on Ichigai , which ended in suicide Mishima and Morita and the dissolution of society.
Attack on the Keidanren Building
On March 3, 1977, four young patriots, including two former members of the Shield Society, Yoshio Ito and Toshikazu Nishio, broke into the building of the Federation of Economic Organizations of Japan (Keidanren) and took twelve people hostage. Since there were fans of the late Yukio Mishima among the terrorists, his widow Yoko was called to the scene and persuaded the attackers to surrender. Ito and Nishio were sentenced to five years in prison.
Structure, name, attributes
The Shield Society was divided into departments (dozens). In total, in accordance with the organizer's plan, it consisted of up to a hundred people - that was the maximum number that he could afford, fully financing its activities at his own expense (the adoption of sponsorship was excluded, since Mishima had to remain out of politics). Recruiting staff and exam organization were handled by a senior student student, and Mishima himself conducted the interviews. Membership fees were not provided; cadets were provided with winter (subsequently summer) uniforms, caps, travel uniforms and shoes.
All cadets underwent mandatory monthly training with the soldiers of the Self-Defense Forces, and six months later, another ten-day express training course. The rest of the time, a meeting was arranged monthly at the cultural center at the Itigai military base according to the following schedule: Mishima’s speech, debate, a simple lunch and an hour lesson on the roof of the cultural center.
When choosing a name, a vote was arranged. The variant proposed by Mishima himself and based on the song from the most ancient poetic anthology of Japan “Collection of myriads of leaves” won:
| From today, Without looking back I'm going to the guard service To miserable become a shield Keeping the sovereign!Imamatsuribe Yosou , trans. with yap. A. Gluskina |
The well-known fashion designer Tsukumo Igarashi made a special uniform design for Shield Society, and Mishima himself designed the symbolism.