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(★)(Translated from the Japanese by Kathryn Sparling)(Titulo original : 葉隠れ入門 [Hagakure Nyuumon]／ Written in 1967, three years before Yukio Mishima´s famed ritual suicide,´Hagakure´, the teachings of a samurai called Yamamoto [1659-1719], became a sort of samurai bible and was, seemingly, the most influential book in Mishima´s life. Yamamoto´s central perception is contained in the sentence ´I found that the way of the samurai is death´. He stresses that the samurai must perfect his resolution to die for his lord at any moment, and gives much advice on how he must conduct himself, even down to dealing with servants or stifling a yawn. He also laments, like Mishima after him, the decadence of his times --by which he means the predominance of the chrysanthemum over the sword. The book provides fascinating insights not only into the samurai code, but also into the life and death of Mishima.／ ◆Yukio Mishima, born in Tokyo on January 14, 1925, was probably the most spectacularly talented young Japanese writer to emerge after World War II. Mishima´s first novel was published in 1948, shortly after he graduated from Japan´s prestigious University of Tokyo School of Jurisprudence. Upon leaving the university, he secured a highly coveted position in the Ministry of Finance, but he resigned after just nine months to devote himself fully to his writing. From the time he put pen to paper until his widely publicized death in 1970, he was a very prolific writer, producing some two dozen novels, more than 40 plays, over 90 short stories, several poetry and travel volumes, and hundreds of essays. His mastery won him many top literary awards, among them the 1954 Shinchosha Literary Prize for his novel´The Sound of Waves´. Although critics are naturally divided on which of his many works is the ultimate masterpiece, Mishima himself regarded´The Sea of Fertility´to be his finest effort. He completed his last volume,´The Decay of the Angel´, on the day of his death by ritual suicide on November 25, 1970. Mishima´s writings have been compared to those of Proust, Gide, and Sartre, and his obsession with courage mirrors Ernest Hemingway´s. Today, more than three decades since his death, Yukio Mishima remains one of the pivotal figures of modern Japanese literature.／ ◆Kathryn Sparling is Professor of Japanese language and literature at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she also teaches Cross-Cultural Studies and Women´s Studies. She has also taught at Columbia University and the University of Michigan. She has a BA from Stanford (French), an MA from Ochanomizu University in Tokyo (Japanese literature), and a PhD from Harvard (Japanese literature). Professor Sparling has published a number of articles on Japanese literature (Natsume Sooseki and Oe Kenzaburo), and is the co-author of ´Women in Japanese Society (Greenwood Press, 1992)´. She lives in Minnesota, but spends some time in Japan almost every year, often with students or colleagues. ▼CONTENTS／ ●PROLOGUE／Hagakure and I／Raymond Radiguet´s ´Le Bal du Comte d´Orgel´ and ´The Collected Works of Akinari Ueda´／The One and Only Book for Me, Hagakure／Hagakure, the Book That Teaches Freedom and Passion／My Testimony／´I Found That the Way of the Samurai Is Death´／The Misfortune and the Happiness of the Man of Action／Hagakure, Womb of My Literary Ueuvre／ ●MY HAGAKURE／Hagakure Is Alive Today／Contemporary Youth Infatuated with the Cardin Look／The Feminization of the Male／Expense Account Aristocrats／Lionized Baseball Players and Television Stars／The Compromise Climate of Today, When One May Neither Live Beautifully nor Die Horribly／The Ideal Love Is Undeclared／Hagakure : Potent Medicine To Soothe the Suffering Soul／Suppressed, the Death Impulse Must Eventually Explode／Times Have Changed／The Significance of Hagakure for the Present Day／ ●THE FORTY-EIGHT VITAL PRINCIPLES OF HAGAKURE／ Hagakure and Its Author, Joochoo Yamamoto／The Background and Composition of Hagakure／Joochoo and the Transcriber, Tsuramoto Tashiro／Hagakure : Three Philosophies／ ●HOW TO READ HAGAKURE／ The Japanese Image of Death／Death According to Hagakure and Death for the Kamikaze Suicide Squadrons／There Is No Distinction Between Chosen Death and Obligatory Death／Can One Die for a Just Cause?／No Death Is in Vain／ ●APPENDIX : SELECTED WORDS OF WISDOM FROM HAGAKURE／) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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