Japanese Literature discussion

Hi all!
I've set Runaway Horses to be our next group read, as previously discussed... somewhere I can't find ^^;

It's the second volume from the Sea of Fertility series, so if you haven't read Spring Snow yet, you might want to start with this!

Thanks for the reminder! I shall obtain a copy soon :)

I think Runaway Horses should be read in the context of Mishima's life at the time. It seems to project through its main character Isao a similar image to what Mishima was trying to project for himself in his later years.

It's no spoiler to say that Isao is a nationalist and a reactionary. Compare that to Mishima's private army, the Shield Society, whose motivation was to protect the emperor at the cost of their own lives. And to Mishima's soon-after suicide, futilely trying to turn back the clock and restore imperial rule.

The Shield Society, by the way, is a classical reference. This is explained in Ivan Morris' The Nobility of Failure. Morris knew Mishima, and wrote the book in response to Mishima's suicide.

In another aside, I recommend Paul Schrader's movie "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters." It provides a brief biography of Mishima, and one of the four books highlighted in the movie is Runaway Horses. Schrader's art alternates between gritty realism in recreating Mishima's life and beautiful abstraction in recreating his fiction.

The first 120 or so pages (depending on printing) cover chapters 1-10, which ends with a key pivot in the novel from Honda to Isao, with Isao's line at the end of chapter 10 centering his personality and foreshadowing the rest of the book.

Honda, from Spring Snow, forms our frame for Runaway Horses. He provides continuity across the years that passed since Spring Snow and gives us a familiar view of new events before stepping aside to let this novel take its course. His story between the novels covers the first eight chapters (60 pages) with only brief glimpses of the Runaway Horse himself, Isao. In one of Mishima's styles, there is a great deal of introspection punctuated by vividly described scenes like the courthouse tower, the kendo match, the dance of the miko, and the waterfall.

Next, chapter 9 (50 pages) is the full text of the book Isao lent to Honda to read, followed by chapter 10's letter of response from Honda to Isao and Isao's reaction to the letter. Then Honda vanishes from the stage. Isao's book is on the League of the Divine Wind, a historical, hopeless rebellion in the late 19th century by disgruntled former samurai displeased with the new modernization program. Not having read Runaway Horses in the original, I don't know how much Mishima holds to classical style in chapter 9, but some of the old elements are there, with verbose lists of names and deeds recounted as they were in the medieval war tales. Perhaps he took it easy on modern readers, and perhaps he adopted a late Edo style to make it seem more historic. Mishima's style in Japanese abounds in hard, pointed, uncommon words, so pushing that towards old fashioned maybe isn't too much of a stretch.

From chapter 11, Isao takes the lead and the main story unfolds. I wonder why Mishima spent so much time on Honda and the transition. Last time I read this I skipped over much of the early chapters, eager to get to Isao's story. I don't think I missed much, but I certainly wouldn't recommend a first-time reader of Runaway Horses to do so.

I see we have a specialist among us! :D
I'll admit you kind of scare me there, I was afraid - and still am - of reading Mishima, because of his political opinions and reading Spring Snow made me realize that there was nothing to be afraid of: he's an incredible author and there isn't too much politics involved! Now I'm still hesitant hahaha.

So I've only read up to chapter 5 so far, but I'm already amazed by how vivid (just like you say!) his descriptions are. It sure uses an elevated language, but I'm reading it in my native language and I find it really adds to the text. To the point where I felt I had to stop and come comment here.

I'm the same with Christian, I'm only up to chapter 5. If the experience with Spring Snow is anything to go by, the beginning would be slow going for me until perhaps a third to half of the book.

By the way I think it's great to mention chapter number at the beginning of any discussion point (as Bill has done), so people know whether they're up to that point or not :).

Apparently this second volume is originally published in Japan as "Honda" in 1970, so I guess it's fair to spend a bit of time on him hehe. I was quite surprised with the re-appearance of Iinuma and Iinuma's son.

I don't have a copy of Spring Snow with me, but did Kiyoaki really say in that book "I'll see you again. I know it. Beneath the falls." to Honda? That's really specific now that we've come to the actual scene!

Dioni (Bookie Mee) wrote: "I don't have a copy of Spring Snow with me, but did Kiyoaki really say in that book "I'll see you again. I know it. Beneath the falls." to Honda? That's really specific now that we've come to the actual scene!"

I didn't remember that either, but I just checked and yes he did! I feel like surely, Iinuma must have noticed the mark and suspect something. After all, he knew Kiyoaki very well!

Christian wrote: "I didn't remember that either, but I just checked and yes he did! I feel like surely, Iinuma must have noticed the mark and suspect something. After all, he knew Kiyoaki very well! "

Ahh good point! I guess we'll find out soon :)

Apparently this second volume is originally published in Japan as "Honda" in 1970, so I guess it's fair to spend a bit of time on him hehe.

Goodreads lists the Japanese title of this book as 奔馬 (honba), meaning running horses (hashiru uma). I just checked on amazon.co.jp , and the title there agrees.

Oh interesting. On one of the front pages of my Vintage edition it says the book was first published in Japan as Honda - and I just assumed the character name. Not a great spot to misspell :/

I'm up to chapter 12!
For some reason, I'm having a bad day today, so I decided to change my mind by going outside and reading in the park. Generally a good idea, but not so much when you finish chapter 9 of this lol! The end is especially gloomy. Made me feel worst and it's so disturbing that it's hard not to think about it! Oh well. Anyway, it was surprising and maybe insightful to see the reaction of their family, do you guys think it has some relevancy to Japan's notoriously high suicide rate? By the fact that - maybe - it might still be seen as something honorable?

It's interesting how Honda, afterwards, makes the analogy with Christian martyrs, who are also ready to contribute to their cause with their lives. Just like we read in Silence. I have the same comment as I did before: it seems foolish to me to die for an idea. When Honda talks about putting this revolution in perspective with its historical setting, I suppose he means to point out how futile their death was, viewed from just a few years later.

Anyway, one other thing that really captivates me is how much introspection Honda (and previously Kiyoaki) makes. I don't think I've ever thought about morality, or about passion. (view spoiler)[ Maybe I should lol! (hide spoiler)]

I wasn't too sure what was meant with the barbarians, but after reading the corresponding article on Wikipedia, I guess they primarily mean the Westerners.

I just finished chapter 12 as well. I can see how non-first-time-readers may want to skim the first 10 chapters, Bill. The mini-book in chapter 9 was quite laborious to read even though it offers a good insight into the socio politics of the time, of the samurai spirit, and all that. But going though all those names - and all of them suffered the same faith anyway, felt a bit like reading a text book, or bible. I think the text shows how Japanese see suicide as honourable. And even if it may be not up to that extend in the modern days, the view is pretty deeply embedded.

Christian, Silence also crossed my mind in that section! Another interesting point that Honda brought up was that the story in Isao's book was obviously quite one-sided, and only tells the story of the people it wants to tell for its purpose. I'm quite a skeptic, and thought it was "convenient" for the last person to receive divine message for him to continue living and not commit seppuku, so that he can tell the story. How could anyone tell whether it's really divine message or just his own will.

My question is: I'm not sure whether Isao is on the same side as his father. (Btw I had to google May 15 Incident because it was mentioned a few times https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_15_....) Iinuma mentioned that the family is getting more prosperous since the May 15 Incident, and they will only tell Isao about it in the future. What does this imply? The intricacies of the politics went over my head a little. I guess it may become clearer later.

Up to chapter 20 (very slow, as I don't have a lot of reading time this week).

Just want to point out that seasons seem to play a big role in this tetralogy. In Spring Snow, Kiyoaki dies in spring. There seems to be pretty heavy hints that Isao will die in summer. As he starts to gather comrades this summer, it seems the final event would take place next summer.

I wonder then whether the character in the third book will die in autumn, and the last one in winter, making it a full circle (A rhetorical question. If you've read ahead, you don't need to tell us :)

I'm at chapter 21 and I think we'll soon have the answer to your question Dioni; about how the May 15th incident benefited Isao's father. Like Isao, I'm not sure if there's really a link between the two of them, but it would make sense. The last few chapters are getting increasingly political and hard to follow.

Thanks for linking the wiki page! Especially striking is this:

In addition to the petition, the court also received a request from eleven youths in Niigata, asking that they be executed in place of the Navy officers, and sending eleven severed fingers to the court as a gesture of their sincerity.

That made me realize that what Mishima talks about is probably much more close to the reality than I thought. Some people really care a lot about the socioeconomical situation of their country, seemingly. It would be a breath of fresh air at this point to have a character who isn't obsessed with his ideas or who isn't so introspective. We haven't really seen an antagonist or an antithesis so far, have we?

I also miss more colourful characters like Satoko, her maid or the two princes! Anyway, I'm curious to see how it's going to end for Isao lol, I love how you take for granted that he's going to die soon Dioni :P I mean, we did get very strong hints of his will to sacrifice his life, but still, who knows!

I _did_ say the last line of chapter 10 set the rest of the story, right?

Yes, there were real life incidents like what's portrayed in this novel. The first of which was in 1921 (at least 10 years before when Runaway Horses is set). I was reading the relevant bits of Sources of Japanese Tradition vol 2, and then accidentally left it behind at my mother's house, so I can't give you all the details >_<

That said, the goal in 1921 was to assassinate greedy leaders of industry and useless Diet members, to ease the plight of poor farmers, and to bring about a "Taisho Restoration" (the emperor in 1921, between Meiji and Showa). Political assassination was a common feature of Japanese political life from the Meiji Restoration through to WWII.

One has to wonder how serious Isao is about those ideals, though. He seems more eager to die than to accomplish anything. I can't find the exactly line, but I think after Isao's confrontation with Sawa he decides he is angered not by the danger to the plot, but at the danger to his purity. He wishes to die with his purity intact.

Yeah good point, he spends much more time thinking about his perfect death ("This year too he had let slip the chance to die one morning before the blazing summer sun."), than actually justifying it.

Do you think Mishima had the same obsession over a perfect, symbolic death? It's very difficult to read this without thinking about Mishima's own end. It almost (?) rules out the possibility that he's parodying with Isao: he seemed to truly have believed in restoring Japan's imperialist regime...

Christian wrote: "lol, I love how you take for granted that he's going to die soon Dioni :P I mean, we did get very strong hints of his will to sacrifice his life, but still, who knows!"

Lol I guess I got obsessed with death just like Isao does ;D

Or to be exact he seems obsessed with having a beautiful, glorious death. The cause almost doesn't matter. In a way it's similar with Kiyoaki who is obsessed with beauty and sophistication?

And talking about Kiyoaki, at the end of chapter 23, when Iinuma and group found Isao with a dead bird, Honda remembers Kiyoaki's dream about killing a bird. Again I don't recall this scene in the first book. Does any of you?

The same with me, I read about Isao always with Mishima and his demise at the back of my mind. I'm guessing Isao is the closest to Mishima's own characteristics, personality and ideas, compared to the other 3 main characters in the series.

I didn't remember that scene either, but I searched and found it:

(view spoiler)[One hot sultry night, as Kiyoaki was settling into an uneasy sleep, he began to dream. It was quite unlike his previous experiences. If one flounders in the shallows of sleep, wading where the water is tepid and full of all sorts of flotsam that has come in from deeper water to pile up with the land debris in a tangled heap, one is liable to slash one’s feet.
Kiyoaki was standing in the middle of a road that led through open fields. For some reason he was wearing a white cotton kimono and matching hakama, a costume he had never worn, and he was armed with a hunting rifle. The land around him was rolling country, but it was not deserted. He could see a cluster of farmhouses up ahead, and a cyclist passed him on the road. A strange, somber light permeated the entire scene. It was no brighter than the final traces of daylight, and was so diffuse that it could more easily have sprung from the ground rather than the sky, for the grass in the rolling fields gave off a green glow from its very roots and bathed the bicycle in a hazy silver gleam as it vanished into the distance. He looked down and saw that even the thick thongs of his clogs and the veins of his bare feet stood out with brilliant, uncanny clarity.
At that moment, the light filmed over and a huge flight of birds appeared in the sky. When they reached a point above his head, filling the air with their squawking cries, he aimed his rifle upward and pulled the trigger. He did not fire in cold blood. It was rather that he was seized by an unfathomable anger and grief, and he fired, aiming not so much at the birds as at the great blue eye of the sky itself.
The whole flock plummeted earthward in a single mass, a tornado of screams and blood that linked heaven and earth. Countless shrieking birds, their blood spurting out, tumbled down in an unending stream, gathered into one thick column that formed the cone of the whirlwind. The cascade of blood and fury never slackened.
As he watched, the whirlwind suddenly solidified before his eyes and became a giant tree that stretched to the heavens. Its trunk was a forbidding rust color, devoid of leaves or branches. As soon as this giant tree took shape and the screaming died away, the same somber glow that had lit up the fields before the storm spread out over them once more. Down the road appeared a new silver bicycle without a rider and made its way unsteadily toward him.
He was proud to have been the one to sweep away the obstacle that had blocked the light of the sun.
But then in the distance he saw a group coming his way along the road. They were all dressed in white just as he was. They checked their solemn, measured advance a few yards away. He saw that each of them carried a shining sakaki branch in his hand.
They pointed their branches toward him and began to wave them in the rite of purification, the rustle of leaves echoing clearly in his ears. As they did so, he was startled to recognize the face of his former retainer Iinuma in their midst. Iinuma himself spoke to him.
“You are heedless and intractable. You have proved it beyond all question.”
He looked down at his chest when Iinuma spoke. A necklace of crescent-shaped stones, dark maroon and purple, now hung around his neck. The stones were cold and as they touched his skin they sent a chill through his body. His chest felt like a flat, heavy rock.
Then the white-clad group pointed to the tree, and when he looked at it, he saw that the massive trunk of dead birds was now covered with branches, all of which were laden with glossy green leaves. The whole tree was a vivid green, down to its lowest branches.
Then he woke up. (hide spoiler)]

Sorry for the long quote, but it's reaaally close to what actually happens in Runaway Horses, no wonder Honda is surprised!

I haven't progressed much (chap. 26), but I noticed the next actual coup, according to wiki is in November (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militar...)
Also interesting: if you scroll to the bottom of the page, you can see all the rebellions listed and the last one of the Showa period is the "Mishima Incident".

This further led me to Mishima's page and, in case you didn't already know, it says that "his biographer, translator John Nathan, suggests that the coup attempt was only a pretext for the ritual suicide of which Mishima had long dreamed" and that this happened just after he completed the Sea of Fertility tetralogy.

Thanks Christian for typing that long quote! I am now thinking to get all 4 paperback copies of the series if they're so interconnected like this. (My Spring Snow is Kindle version so it's hard to browse through, and I'm reading a library copy of Runaway Horses.) And thanks for the link to Military Academy Incident.

It just dawned on me in the recent chapters that Divine Wind is Kamikaze in Japanese. A quick google refers in particular to this suicide attack in WWII https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze. Not sure how much Mishima was inspired by this - he died in 1970 and started writing the tetralogy in 1964 according to Wiki, so he would've known about the WWII event. Though on the page it's also mentioned:
"While the term "kamikaze" usually refers to the aerial strikes, it has also been applied to various other suicide attacks."

Haha I was thinking the same, now I definitely want to read the four of them.

Yesterday I ended up reading a couple more chapters and was quite surprised! Not sure where you are, but I was already thinking: ok, this will be a point where Mishima diverges from the actual events, since it was planned on Dec. 3rd and the real event happened in November... Nevermind that! (at this point, reading the wiki article is a spoiler lol)

Oh and by the way I also have them on Kindle, but I loaded them up in Calibre (ebook library software) so it's easier to search/copy. No I didn't type all of this hahaha! ;P

Hahaah.
I'm in the middle of chapter 32.
I hope this is no longer a spoiler. For me I kept thinking about my theory that Isao will die in summer, and wondered how it could work with the 3rd of December event as that is in winter, and perhaps my theory was all wrong. Well, at this point it still seems possible ;)

On a side note, I found the details of buying/gathering the swords interesting. It seems similar to terrorists of today, except that they use swords instead of guns (they even have some explosives). It didn't cross my mind that acquiring swords would be a challenge. Subconsciously I thought every house would have one sword or even a few, and they were common to buy everywhere (ie at the supermarket lol). It makes sense that serious sword would be as challenging to obtain as firearm today, in certain countries anyway. And I recall at the beginning of the book it was mentioned that it's become illegal to carry sword as a civil / non-military person - though I'm not clear how strict the rules are (whether it's ok to possess as long as it's not in public).

Finished!

Yeah, I was surprised too about the swords. It became illegal for anyone to carry a weapon in the street after Meiji Restoration (1868), when the samurai class was abolished. Yet, I would have thought that it didn't make it any more difficult to buy one. Maybe it's the exchange of one sword to many daggers that they thought was suspicious...

(view spoiler)[Sorry about (hide spoiler)] your theory Dioni hahahaha! ;)

Kind of off-topic, but in case you haven't been on Internet during the last few months (lol): check out this short video of the history of Japan. I must have watched it fifty times already :P

Got back my copy of Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol 2.

On Sept 3, 1921, Asahi Heigo and his shinshuuu gidan assassinated a zaibatsu leader. Despising the rich and the nobility, he called for the execution of the rich and confiscation of their property, nationalization of industry, relief to the poor and struggling, and an imperial restoration.

This is only the first of a number of such nationalist assassinations and attempted coups from 1921 to 1936 that their leaders termed 'an imperial restoration.' So Mishima had plenty of examples draw from to create Isao and his movement.

But finishing up Runaway Horses, the imprisonment and trial of Isao has some interesting features. The law courts of the time were based more on the German model than the English or American. Three judges would sit on a case, and would question the defendant and witnesses personally. While there still was an adversarial relationship between the defense and prosecutor, the judges themselves were more central to the proceedings. I don't think anyone will be particularly surprised that Isao was in prison for a whole year, and only got to know who his lawyer was when he got to trial. Honda to act on his behalf with no knowledge of what Isao wanted; but then, he was more working for Isao's father than for Isao.

I particularly liked the scene where Isao is being questioned kindly by the prison officials (they apparently respected him for the youthful indiscretion that landed him in jail) while they are torturing communist prisoners in the next building. Isao imagines the suffering of the communists and asks why he isn't being tortured. The guards reply that it's because he's cooperating. In case you didn't know, this isn't entirely honest. Japanese police and prison officials regularly tortured prisoners, and not always for benefit to the investigation. Isao's treatment is far more lenient than would be implied by a straightforward reading of the text.

Saga Jun'ichi in Confessions of a Yakuza describes in some detail the torture the police put him through in the same pre-war period after he'd confessed to a crime and surrendered himself. Granted, his story is probably exaggerated, but there was no reason for him to be tortured at all.

I didn't believe the police officer there. I thought they were secretly seeing and treating him as a hero. Maybe it was a way from Mishima to make us realize that he had the support of a large part of the population? At least that's the way I understood it. I guess what you're saying even makes it more likely.

Again a parallel with Silence! When Rodrigues is denied torture, but it hurts him even more, because he knows other Christians are suffering for him. Of course it's not exactly the same, but even if it intuitively "fits" the way I picture Isao, I can't really tell (or recall) why he wants to be tortured... Does he wants to be a martyr?

Finished it finally! The Brexit thing totally threw off my reading schedule :]

** spoiler alert for the ending **

I'm not sure whether it's because it took me a while to finish the book, but I found the ending to be anti-climatic. The last chapter felt abrupt. There was no more mention of Makiko, by the narration or by Isao, after Sawa revealed Makiko's involvement in Isao's imprisonment. I kinda expected Isao to confront her one more time, but perhaps there's no use for that?

Unlike Spring Snow that I think can stand alone by itself, Runaway Horses felt much like a middle book in a series. I want to know the impact of Isao's final acts for Iinuma and Honda, which I assume will come up in book 3.

Regarding my theory :)... Isao dies in winter instead of summer, so I'm wondering whether it goes the other way around. Spring, winter, autumn, summer. Lol I know, I'm just forcing it to fit now.

Regarding the torture: Not sure whether your question is for Isao, Christian? But from what I gathered, Isao thought he wasn't taken seriously, that he wasn't important enough to be tortured, and that upset him.

I'm not entirely clear why all the officials were being nice to him, including the police officers and the judges. Is it "merely" because he's young, pure, and patriotic? Or does Iinuma and his high-up "friends" play any role in that?

I keep thinking it is ironic that despite the glorification of seppuku, the reality of committing suicide must be anti-climatic. It's bloody, messy, and when you're in the thick of it, it must feel like you're sinking onto the earth rather than soaring into the heaven like what Isao (and perhaps Mishima) imagines. From what I read, Mishima's seppuku wasn't a clean one too and it took his comrade a few attempts to behead Mishima's head before another comrade took over and finished him.

Especially when you don't have someone to cut your head lol. It must be a slow and agonizing death.

And I was a bit surprised too that there was no scene with Makiko, but in retrospective, knowing his final plans, I guess it played no role anymore...

Anyway let me/us know when you want to further test your theory ;P But yeah, it makes sense to me too to have a little break in-between! ^^

Yeah, I guess when Sawa told Isao the truth, that was the end of the relationship with Makiko, and she's no longer in the picture.

I'm thinking to continue to book 3 next year hahah. Is that too long? Maybe early next year. What do you think?

Just for a moment I thought you wrote "in 3 years" lol! Yup, next year is good with me!

Hahah. Great!

Thanks Christian and Bill for the discussion on the book. Seems a perfect book for a group read. Lots to talk about!