Mishima's Sword: Travels in Search of a Samurai Legend [Hardcover]

Christopher Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2006

In 1970, the world-famous Japanese writer Yukio Mishima plunged a knife into his belly and was decapitated using his own antique sword. In the decades since, people have asked endless far-ranging questions about this spectacular suicide. Christopher Ross wondered, What on earth happened to Mishima's sword? And so Ross sets off for Tokyo on a journey into the heart of the Mishima legend---the very heart of Japan. It was a country Ross knew well after nearly five years of living there--but nothing could have prepared him for this. While searching for the fabled sword, Ross encounters the rather startling range of those who knew Mishima...a world, or perhaps more accurately a demimonde, of craftsmen and critics, soldiers and swordsmen, boyfriends and biographers (even the man who taught Mishima hara-kiri). The trail Ross follows inspires a travelogue of the most eye-opening--and occasionally bizarre--sort, a window into the real Japan that is never seen by tourists and the occasion for digressions on, among other things, socks and the code of the samurai, nosebleeds and metallurgy... even how to dress for suicide. Mishima's Sword is a dazzling read--the perfect book for all those intrigued by things Japanese, from gangsters to Genji, from manga to Mishima.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ross (Tunnel Visions) pursues the life and especially the violent suicide by seppuku, or hara-kiri, of the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, at age 45 in 1970. An English journalist who studied martial arts and later worked in Japan and learned Japanese, Ross was intrigued by overlaps in Mishima's life and his own, in terms of wondering how to make one's life more worthwhile and productive, and one's death "magnificent." Mishima's novels harked back to the heroism of samurai warriors of early eras, and during his life he assiduously mastered the code of the knightly class and conditioned his body in ritual sword fighting. In fact, Ross learns that the famous sword Mishima used on himself in Tokyo's Eastern Army Group Headquarters was made by Seki no Magoroku in the 16th century, and has subsequently vanished. In between a visceral blow-by-blow account of Mishima's last hours, Ross alternates his detailed, gently meandering narrative with fascinating research into the art of Japanese sword making. Ross's journey is wonderfully elucidating, not only of the writer who wanted to ensure he lived forever but of a holistic history and culture of Japan. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In his time, Yukio Mishima was Japan's best-known and best-selling novelist, but he will always be remembered for his spectacular death, when he committed seppuku after a spectacularly unsuccessful coup attempt. Ross (Tunnel Visions, 2001) wanted to know what happened to Mishima's sword, the one that was used by a cohort to lop off his head as the coup de grace. What follows is an -utterly unique journey, part travelogue, part biography, part history lesson, and part philosophical treatise. Mishima was a complicated, contradictory man, and Ross explores his mind and his work through the lens of Japan's challenging culture. Though the search for the sword impels the journey, this is no archaeological thriller. The sword as object is less important to the book than the sword as symbol, of Japan's militaristic past, of Mishima's desire to reinvent himself from effete aesthete to virile man of action. Does Ross find the sword? Who cares? As with all great journeys, the most memorable moments lie en route to the final destination. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (October 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306815133
• ISBN-13: 978-0306815133
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,969,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars the only book i've thrown across a room in digust at, January 26, 2009

By 

Cirrus (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mishima's Sword: Travels in Search of a Samurai Legend (Hardcover)

I happen to have read many novels by Mishima in their English translations as well as many other Japanese novelists. I came to this book as someone interested in anything about Mishima having already read the Nathan and Stokes biographies and the Yourcenar book on him. But, regardless of whether one has any interest in Mishima or in Japanese literature or in Japan I think this book could only be read by someone amused by bad writing. This book was the worst book I have ever read by far - nothing comes close. While the story itself and the subject itself are certainly worthy Christopher Ross has such a flair for lack of taste and such a flair for tangents that are neither interesting nor at all relevant that, well, yes, one may find this amusing as an example of bad writing. Ridiculously bad! I am utterly astonished this was published. For example in one particularly crazy tangent that I am recalling from memory he uses the pretext that Mishima was a resident of Tokyo to speak of going to one section of Tokyo where pornography was available (I'm not offended at all by pornography here - only by ridiculously off-subject and uninteresting writing) - and then offhandedly makes some nitwit observation that the chrysantheum image is often used to cover up private parts in pornographic pictures and then he informs us that the chrysantheum is a national symbol in Japan. And then... on with his story of searching for Mishima's sword. But there are countless other examples of tangents that are completely uninteresting, uninformative, and irrelevant. This might be alright with any sort of tactfulness but, always, Christopher Ross seemed to come across as Beavis or Butthead- snickering at some stupid observation which he thinks is original or insightful. I began reading this thinking I might want to write a review of it for a local publication- thus I plunged forward with it despite how much I disliked it. But halfway into it - I think at the point he makes his juvenile snickering about what covers private parts in certain magazines he has seen (which has nothing to do with anything whatsoever) - I spontaneously threw the book across my apartment - both in jealousy that here was someone who had something published and then, primarily, at the utter contempt I had for this person. Spending time reading Ross is like being forced to listen to the most annoying person you have ever sat next to on a bus, plane, or waiting in line. All you can do is endure and try not to lose your temper. I certainly, however, recommend any of Mishima's books particularly 'Confessions of a Mask' and 'Temple of the Golden Pavillion' for those who have not read his works before. Nathan's biography stands out from the others though the movie 'Mishima' was based on the Scott Stokes biography (which is also good and covers the subject in a different enough way to make it worth reading in addition to the other.) Plenty has been written about Mishima and it would be helpful for the novice to Japan to understand that Mishima's death is seen as something of an embarrasment and an egotistical act- though a portion of the right-wing there may look at him with respect. Anyhow, avoid this book unless you are searching for samples of poor writing- in which case I highly recommended going thru the pages of this piece of trash that has the feel of a weekend spent with an immature suburban junior high student without talent, taste, or seemingly without any reason to having had a book published. Was this a publisher's joke? Did Ross pay the publisher to have this book published? In fewer words, this book was just astonishingly bad.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good subject, poor delivery., May 19, 2009

By 

Evil Noah (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mishima's Sword: Travels in Search of a Samurai Legend (Paperback)

This is a pretty fascinating account of Yukio Mishima's life and eventual suicide seppuku style. As far as the amazing real life story of Mishima and the amazing history of Japan goes, this book should have been 5 stars. The reason I only gave it three is the author's self-indulgent, "I'm sooo cool because I know about japanese culture and kendo", attitude and writing style. You have to read %50 percent of the book hearing about this guy's stay in japan and martial arts routines.
I appreciate the attempt to write more than just a biography, but when it comes down to it, who do you want to read about? Mishima or some cocky british japanophile?

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting history lesson mixed with a travel diary, January 1, 2007

By 

therosen "therosen" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mishima's Sword: Travels in Search of a Samurai Legend (Hardcover)

Christopher Ross goes on a quest for the sword used to assist in the suicide of Yushio Mishima, one of Japan's most famous authors. Along the way, the reader is treated to a history of Japan, lessons on Kendo, and insight into Mishima himself, and icon (or iconoclast?) of Japanese literature. In essence, the quest for the physical sword takes secondary importance, behind Ross's quest to understand the man, the times, and the context of his suicide.

For those that read Twigger's Angry White Pajamas, this book is a more serious, and more culturally detailed view of the same genre. Perhaps the connection comes as Christopher Ross was the uber-guru that Twigger wrote about...

If there's one issue I have with the book, it's that the writer at times talks down to the reader. For example, most anyone reading this has experienced international travel - the audience is a cosmopolitan set. Explaining the details of an inflight entertainment system detracts from the overall story.

That said, the book is still concise and well written, and worthy of a read from any afficianado of Japan. It certainly earns a prominent place on my bookshelf!