Patriotism (short story)

The story of Patriotism centers around the experiences of Lieutenant Shinji Takeyama and his young wife, Reiko, and their ritualistic suicide following the February 26 Incident, a mutiny by members of the Imperial Japanese Army in 1936. Their suicide is discussed in brief at the very beginning of the story, and then followed by an introduction to the characters and their daily lives.

The focus of the story takes place across three days, beginning on February 26, and ending on February 28, 1936. On the morning of the 26th, the lieutenant leaves in a hurry to the sound of a bugle; he does not return until the evening of the 28th. When he does return, he tells his wife of the mutiny in the army ranks, and that the following morning, he will be in command of a unit ordered to attack the mutineers. Most of these mutineers are friends of his.

Unable to choose between loyalty to the Emperor and loyalty to his comrades, he informs his wife that he will kill himself that evening, and she immediately requests to accompany him in his endeavour. He asks her to be a witness to his own suicide, and she agrees.

The lieutenant kills himself by seppuku later that same evening; this is described in a violent, lyrical display, typical of Mishima's literary style.

The writing reflects on the interlacing of mundanity and beauty, as when the intensity of passion that the husband and wife share for one another is related to the description of the couple in the photograph taken at their wedding, a recurring reference throughout the story.

Patriotism was written in the autumn of 1960, shortly after the Anpo protests, which were said to have prompted Mishima's public turn towards right-wing politics.[4] The contradictory nature of Mishima’s upbringing and the social context of Japan during the time in which he wrote Patriotism also motivated him to take a larger political stance in his writing.[5] Mishima’s upbringing in a samurai family and Imperial Japan engrained samurai philosophy in his world view.[5] One of the most defining of these values that later influenced Mishima was the samurai’s loyalty to their lord and country. These values revolve around the principles of Bushido (武士道), a supposed moral code of conduct for samurais that influenced nationalism until its abandonment in the second World War. Bushido is said to contain a set of eight principles of justice, courage, mercy, respect, honesty, honor, loyalty, and self-control, which can be seen being reflected in the short story. The shift from Imperial Japan to a Westernized Japan after World War II as a result of United States occupation and reconstruction of Japan from 1945-1952, introduced Western values and beliefs to Japanese society that in some ways contradicted those of Imperial Japan.[6] This shift in belief would ultimately become the motivation for Mishima’s later works, including Patriotism and The Sea of Fertility tetralogy.

The character 憂 (yū) actually means "worry" or "concern", and though Yūkoku is translated as "patriotism", the word bears with it a meaning more congruent with "concern for one's country" rather than patriotism directly.

"Patriotism" was later included alongside "Star" and 百万円煎餅 ("Hyakuman'en senbei") in the short story collection スタア (Sutā), which was published on 30 January 1961 by Shinchosha.[7][8] It was translated into English in 1966. Mishima later grouped it together with the play Toka no Kiku and Eirei no Koe in a single volume, the Ni Ni Roku Trilogy.

A film of the same title, based on the short story, was released in 1966, co-directed by Yukio Mishima and Masaki Domoto.

We can identify the characterization of Lieutenant Takeyama as a form of author surrogacy within Patriotism. Such evidence can be found in the eerie similarity between the author and the protagonists’ suicide, performed through seppuku (切腹), a ritualistic suicide through disembowelment commonly performed by samurais as a way of preserving honor and as a sign of mercy. In Patriotism, lieutenant Takeyama, after finding out of his comrades’ death in the revolt that he was excused from due to his newlywed status, decides to commit seppuku as means of preserving honor and out of loyalty towards the country and his late comrades. On the other hand, the author, a decade after Patriotism was published, in an attempt to recruit soldiers to join his coup, gathered a troop of around 800 and delivered a speech on his cause where he was met with mixed and rather pessimistic reactions. After his failure at the coup, he committed seppuku, just as the lieutenant did in Patriotism, but the act, rather than being beautiful as described in the story, had rather become one of “protest and accusation”, “inevitably adapted to the time he lived in.”

Through the lieutenant’s death in Patriotism, Mishima brings the reader to a postwar-Japanese society that “struggles to find its identity.”[6] Living in a schizophrenic perception of the world and an “American way of life” in Japan, Mishima’s opposition to this perception became the center of his motivation for his stories and in his death.[6] The integration of his political stance against contemporary Japan in his stories ultimately built up to the purpose of attempting to spark a coup d’etat on this society; to reform Japan back to what it was before.[10] Ultimately, he solidified his stance through his seppuku.

Using author surrogacy, Mishima also embodies his political and religious views into the story. Assuming that Shinji represents Mishima, it can be assumed that Shinji's actions in the story represent what Mishima aspires virtues to be for the average Japanese couple. As Mishima is a Shintoist, the protagonists within the story are also seen practicing Shinto religion. “On the god shelf below the stairway, alongside the tablet from the Great Ise Shrine, were set photographs of their Imperial Majesties, and regularly every morning, before leaving for duty, the lieutenant would stand with his wife at this hallowed place, and together they would bow their heads low.” (Patriotism, 96). Mishima being a strong believer in Shinto religion[11], displays that the practice of the religion is one of the strongest virtues a Japanese person may possess. Mishima also embodies his ideals into the primary traits of Shinji and Reiko, being incredibly loyal to the flag and their comrades, when forced to pick between honoring either one of them, Shinji chooses to take his own life showing his loyalty to the end. Reiko shows just as much resolve, following her husband to the grave.