Yukio Mishima and fountain pens
Juan
some scenes using fps (He used his own blood and a brush to sign the
Tate No Kai manifest). They look to me like Dunhill-Namiki (the clip,
the shape...), but those scenes are in B/W, so I couldn't distinguish
the colours or any maki-e.
Has anyone seen that film? It's a nice one; I can't remenber the
starring, but George Lucas and FF Coppola were the producers, with
music by Philip Glass. In short, a nice movie as well as a source for
fps guesswork
Juan
Garglemonster
Juan> Last night I saw the movie "Mishima" . There Y. Mishima
Juan> appears in some scenes using fps (He used his own blood and
Juan> a brush to sign the Tate No Kai manifest). They look to me
Juan> like Dunhill-Namiki (the clip, the shape...), but those
Juan> scenes are in B/W, so I couldn't distinguish the colours or
Juan> any maki-e. Has anyone seen that film? It's a nice one; I
Juan> can't remenber the starring, but George Lucas and FF Coppola
Juan> were the producers, with music by Philip Glass. In short, a
Juan> nice movie as well as a source for fps guesswork
i saw the movie when it came out in the mid-eighties. it was ok.
i've also seen a mishima ms. yes, he did use a fp, though i don't
know (or care) what kind he used. in my opinion, his handwriting was
the best thing about his fiction.
he was more interesting as a political theorist. (he was post-modern
_and_ fascist.) very little if any of his political tracts have been
translated, probably because the family and his u.s./european
publishers are embarassed about them.
Juan
I don't think he was a fascist. He was a contradictory person, that's
for sure: he praised virility when he had homosexual tenencies, he
wrote about traditional Japan, but he lived in a western style house
and wore western clothes. Now the idea of him using a fountain pen is
another contradiction.
As for his political ideas, he wrote some essays. For example,
"Spiritual Lessons for the Young Samurais" shows this. My (spanish)
edition also has some other essays as well as the manifest he read
before commiting suicide. i don't know whether these essays have been
published in English or not.
Juan
SanV
>
>I don't think he was a fascist. He was a contradictory person, that's
>for sure: he praised virility when he had homosexual tenencies,
How is that a contradiction?
Garglemonster
Juan> Garglemonster <gargle...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
Juan> news:<87d6jvc...@shroud.disorg>...
>> >>>>> "Juan" == Juan <jjtele...@yahoo.es> writes:
>> he was more interesting as a political theorist. (he was
>> post-modern _and_ fascist.) very little if any of his
>> political tracts have been translated, probably because the
>> family and his u.s./european publishers are embarassed about
>> them.
Juan> I don't think he was a fascist.
if you read "Bunka Boeiron" (it translates to something like "Theory
of Cultural Defense"), you might come to a different conclusion. i
think you also have to consider his attempt to start a coup d'etat.
this was taken right out of the pages of '30s japanese fascists like
Kita Ikki. of course, how you define fascism will come into play in
this argument.
as far as i know, these haven't been translated into western
languages.
Juan> He was a contradictory person, that's for sure: he praised
Juan> virility when he had homosexual tenencies, he wrote about
Juan> traditional Japan, but he lived in a western style house and
Juan> wore western clothes. Now the idea of him using a fountain
Juan> pen is another contradiction.
yes, he should have been using a brush.
Juan> As for his political ideas, he wrote some essays. For
Juan> example, "Spiritual Lessons for the Young Samurais" shows
Juan> this. My (spanish) edition also has some other essays as
Juan> well as the manifest he read before commiting suicide. i
Juan> don't know whether these essays have been published in
Juan> English or not.
which essays are included in the book?
Emperor Bush is wearing no clothes
Juan
I'll tell you about the essays in another post (i'm writing from my
wokplace). Pls bear in mind that I'll translate the titles, so they
might have appeared in english under another name.
I think that we agree in the main points, though. We have to consider
all he contradictions in japanese culture (can anyone tell me why did
kamikazes wear helmets? ;.) ), and the brutal change that japanese
society underwent in less than 150 years. This created what some
people have called a new form of schizophrenia.
Mishima is not alone here. Yasunari Kawabata, Akira Kurosawa (in
cinema), and even Kenzaburo Oe lived halfway a medieval and a modern
society. BTW, both Kawabata and Oe earned the nobel prize for
literature, and in kawabata's words, it is Mishima who deserved the
prize, not him (in fact Mishima was proposed for it).
Sure, Mishima went too far in that nostalgia for the good old japanese
days, but I still don't think h was a fascist. He respeced and admired
other cultures
(something that fascist don't do). He simply couldn't stand that
transformation of japanese society. I think of him as a oriental Lord
Byron.
Juan
Juan
He critiziced "affeminate intelectuals", when he one.
Juan
Juan
Here are the titles of the essays (bear in mind that I've translated
it from the spanish edition; the original is "Wabaki samurai no tame
no seishin kowa :-) )
Spiritual lessons for young samurais
The Society of the Shields
Introduction to the philosophy of action
My last 25 years
The manifest of November 25th
There's an excelent introduction and prologue by Clara Sánchez, and
Isidro Juan Palacios too.
Juan
ishibu...@yahoo.com
> > Juan> virility when he had homosexual tenencies, he wrote about
> > Juan> traditional Japan, but he lived in a western style house and
> > Juan> wore western clothes. Now the idea of him using a fountain
> > Juan> pen is another contradiction.
> >
> > yes, he should have been using a brush.
> >
Um, without putting too fine a point on it, that's silly. Fountain
pens have been in Japan about as long as they've been in Europe and N.
America. I mean, if I had an interest in "traditional" western
civilization, would it be contradictory if I didn't write with a
feather dip pen? Or should I be wearing breeches and a tri-corner
hat? Mishima was intuitive enough to understand the difference
between a struggle to preserve a traditional Japanese way of thinking
and simply wearing modern clothes (not "Western", just modern). The
outer trappings are just so much flotsam, anyway. He also wrote with
a fountain pen because it was the most practical way to do it. No
contadictions here.
jjtele...@yahoo.es (Juan) wrote in message news:<500c2486.03041...@posting.google.com>...
Garglemonster
>> > Juan> He was a contradictory person, that's for sure: he
>> praised > Juan> virility when he had homosexual tenencies, he
>> wrote about > Juan> traditional Japan, but he lived in a
>> western style house and > Juan> wore western clothes. Now the
>> idea of him using a fountain > Juan> pen is another
>> contradiction.
>> >
>> > yes, he should have been using a brush.
>> >
ishibumi2001> Um, without putting too fine a point on it, that's
ishibumi2001> silly. Fountainpens have been in Japan about as
ishibumi2001> long as they've been in Europe and N. America. I
ishibumi2001> mean, if I had an interest in "traditional" western
ishibumi2001> civilization, would it be contradictory if I didn't
ishibumi2001> write with a feather dip pen? Or should I be
ishibumi2001> wearing breeches and a tri-corner hat? Mishima was
ishibumi2001> intuitive enough to understand the difference
ishibumi2001> between a struggle to preserve a traditional
ishibumi2001> Japanese way of thinking and simply wearing modern
ishibumi2001> clothes (not "Western", just modern). The outer
ishibumi2001> trappings are just so much flotsam, anyway. He also
ishibumi2001> wrote with a fountain pen because it was the most
ishibumi2001> practical way to do it. No contadictions here.
on the other hand, mishima was deliberately anachronistic in a lot of
ways, especially about language. for example, he used kyu-kanji
instead of the simplified characters. if you're going to go that far,
a brush seems more appropriate.
speaking of japanese writers, brushes, and fountain pens, tanizaki
complained that the fountain pens were designed for the roman alphabet
and that a fountain brush would be better suited to writing japanese.
(i guess this means that tanizaki wrote with a fountain pen as a
concession to practicality.) i don't know about tanizaki's time, but
they do sell fountain brushes these days. most people use them for
writing new year's cards.
ishibu...@yahoo.com
"practical". A fountain pen (or any modern pen) would be more
efficient than breaking out the ink block, mixing it, dipping your
brush in it, and going at the page. And I think that would hold true
for kyu kanji as well as modern. Including using a fude-pen. It
seems that any writer who wanted to be half-way prolific would prefer
a pen.
No matter how beautiful brush-work can look, it's simply quicker to
write characters with a pen than a brush. I don't know much about
calligraphy, but I don't think I've ever seen a Japanese person whip
out his brush-pen to jot down notes at a meeting or make a memo on the
phone.
But If we're talking "appropriate," then you're probably right.
Garglemonster <gargle...@my-deja.com> wrote in message news:<878yueb...@shroud.disorg>...