Japanese History Yukio Mishima 三島由紀夫

Today is the 40th anniversary of the ritual suicide of the well regarded author Yukio Mishima by seppuku.

Sensei once told us about this story, specifically regarding how Mishima's second or kaishakunin (介錯人)was not able to perform the beheading (after the person cuts open their belly) and after TWO OR THREE TRIES turned the duty over to another person.

Sensei told us:

"Well the person that did the beheading was actually the male lover of Mishima.  Doesnt matter how much you mentally prepare, cutting the head off someone is going to be hard becuase your nervous, doubly so if you are romantically entangled."

From Wikipedia:

"On November 25, 1970, Mishima and four members ...the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of Japan's Self-Defense Forces. Inside, they barricaded the office and tied the commandant to his chair. With a prepared manifesto and banner listing their demands, Mishima stepped onto the balcony to address the soldiers gathered below. His speech was intended to inspire a coup d'état restoring the powers of the emperor. He succeeded only in irritating them, however, and was mocked and jeered. He finished his planned speech after a few minutes, returned to the commandant's office and committed seppuku. The customary kaishakunin duty at the end of this ritual had been assigned to ...Masakatsu Morita, but Morita was unable to properly perform the task: after several attempts, he allowed another ... member, Hiroyasu Koga, to behead Mishima."

A staged photo from the late Edo period of a seppuku ceremony. The kaishakunin is standing at the rear with his sword raised, prepared to behead the person committing seppuku.

PS Anyone else remember Sensei talking about this?  If you do please add it in!