Episode 444 – The Crysanthemum Taboo

July 1, 2022 5 Comments

This week: how did a spate of right wing violence in the early years of the 1960s help to fundamentally reshape public discourse around the emperor (and thus around politics and history more generally) up to the present day? And what does all of this have to do with one of the most bizarre short stories that has ever been published?

Sources

Kapur, Nick. Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise After Anpo

Treat, John Whittier. “Beheaded Emperors and the Absent Figure in Contemporary Japanese Literature.” PMLA 106, No 1 (January, 1994).

A New York Times obituary for Akao Bin, the right-wing politician whose ideas radicalized many of the assassins of the 1960s.

Images

Fukazawa Shichiro, whose short story kicked off the Shimanaka Incident.
Page 1 of Furyu Mutan as published in Chuo Koron in the fall of 1960. It’s VERY hard to find a copy now because nobody would reprint the story and Chuo Koron yanked the issue from circulation.
Yomiuri Shinbun coverage from the day after the assassination attempt (Feb 2, 1961).
Akao Bin and his followers doing a gesture that is in no way problematic.

 

5 thoughts on “Episode 444 – The Crysanthemum Taboo”

  1. I try not to be a pronunciation pedant but “lèse majesté” has come up before and I suppose when you’re talking about a monarchical system it could come up again.

    “lèse” is pronounced something like “lez”. “laysay” would be spelled “lésé” with two accents both pointing the other way. (though if it’s a word in French it’s one I don’t know).

  2. and I hit “post” accidentally before saying how much I am enjoying the show, making me sound very curmudgeonly.

    While I’m here I’d be very interested to know what you think of the historic picture painted in Shimazaki Tōson’s “Before the Dawn”. What’s right, what’s wrong and what influence, if any, has it had on Japan’ view of it’s history?

    Thanks

  4. Wow, talk about relevant…
    I literally listened to this the night before the Abe assassination.

  5. Interesting that the number of this episode is “444”. Death is all over it.

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