Mr Shintaro Ishihara was the Goethe of Japan. I was his pupil, someone in the same profession, and his escort runner. In this chapter, I have woven together more of my private recollections, spanning as long as twenty-plus years, and "my unfulfilled promise" to him. ー Shin Ushijima
(Trigger Warning: This chapter contains references to suicide.)
Chapter 2.5 How They Die
Read other chapters in My Mentor, Shintaro Ishihara
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated. It was an unexpected death. The violent, cold-blooded killing of a politician ー nothing less than terrorism.
I recalled Caesar, who said that the most ideal death was a sudden, unexpected one. Julius Caesar was a politician. Certainly, he did not seek a sudden death. But he understood well that a political figure acting to fulfill his mission could meet sudden death and heaven's might.
His resolve was firm, and he was determined to fulfill his mission no matter the hardships he had to bear. Accordingly, a politician burning with idealism accepts from the outset the risk of unexpected death and acts accordingly. It is a sober recognition that unless one is ready to be a martyr to their ideals, they cannot wield power as a politician. Power is the ability to uphold one's ideas even in the absence of consensus.
The right or wrong of inflicting such violence on politicians is obvious ー it is wrong. But it goes without saying that in this world of flesh, there are a certain number of people who, out of selfishness, try to outwit the law.
Nothing could be done to avoid his own sudden death, Oda Nobunaga is reported to have said. He accepted his fate. Therefore, he always acted resolutely in his words and deeds, without resorting to subterfuge or regard for those around him.
Mission and Destiny
I believe former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe must have had the same resolve. Even so, he must have thought that this country could not be saved if he did not take initiative. It was the resolve of a politician who understood the reins of power and pushed through with his convictions. And it also reflected the mindset of those who understood their mission and destiny. They knew too well that some people would oppose them, and that some fools might resort to violence. But they never flinched, for they believed that if they did flinch, their country would perish.
Of course, they should be perfectly and heavily guarded. Yet Kennedy was assassinated because he was the president. Osachi Hamaguchi was killed because he was the prime minister.
So were Hirofumi Ito, Takashi Hara, Makoto Saito, Tsuyoshi Inukai, and Korekiyo Takahashi.
As I have said many times, the death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was an act of terrorism, which can never be forgiven.
To be more precise, it wasn't even terrorism.
Terrorism will never be eliminated as long as there is a gap between the rich and the poor. From the perspective of advanced countries, it is a heinous act that cannot be condoned. But those who commit terrorism do so for a particular reason.
No Excuse for Terrorism
According to Mayumi Yoshinari's compilation, Jared Diamond stated:
"Countries of lower consumption tend to harbor a deep antagonism toward countries of higher consumption. There is no way to stop the intrusion of terrorists and an influx of population from a country of low consumption to a country of high consumption. Like today, as long as discrepancies in consumption exist among countries of the world, the world will remain unstable forever. Therefore, for the world to become stable, efforts need to be made to almost uniformly equalize the standards of living among the countries of the world." Turnaround of Intelligence (知の逆転, by Mayumi Yoshinari, at p 30). Also see my book, Is My Homeland Worth Sacrificing My Life for?, at p 89.
What reason on earth could there possibly be for taking the life of former Prime Minister Abe? None. There could be no reason.
That is why I say it was not even terrorism. The assassination of a politician, in this case, was just a murder, a crime.
Former Prime Minister Abe was gunned down in cold blood. I will say once again that his murder did not even rise to the level of terrorism.
How is the bereaved family coping with this brutal fact? Even a public figure has an important private world.
Annoyance and Displeasure
On hearing that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down, I recalled another talk with Mr Ishihara:
"Now, no matter what, you cannot get the better of him, can you?"
"Why so?"
"You know, Yukio Mishima committed seppuku (ritual disembowelment) at the age of 45. You've outlived him by many years ー you've managed to live until 66. How can you change this fact?" I answered. And Mr Ishihara replied, "Shut up. If I'm ever driven to die, I'll douse myself with kerosene and burn myself to death."
I wonder if there was anyone else who had this kind of conversation with Mr Ishihara. And I wonder why on earth I dared to say such a thing to him in the first place.
Perhaps it had to do with Ishihara's book, The Solar Eclipse of Yukio Mishima (1991).
Before we had this conversation, Mr Ishihara, slightly squinting his eyes as though casting a look at remote worlds, said to me, "Mr Mishima was really a brilliant man."
But in The Solar Eclipse of Yukio Mishima, Ishihara points out Mishima's lack of athletic ability, which he considered indispensable to understanding the overall character of Yukio Mishima. Whether that was true or not, I thought that Mr Ishihara was no match for Yukio Mishima in the way he died. Therefore, I just posed the question without any greater intention. However, Ishihara's reply indicated his clear annoyance and displeasure.
A Criminal Death
Mr Ishihara died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 89. Having been informed by his doctor of the diagnosis beforehand, he had tried every possible remedy until he expired.
His farewell service was held on June 9, 2022, and former Prime Minister Abe also attended it. How would Mr Ishihara have responded if he had been informed of the death of the former prime minister?
Mr Ishihara understood that terrorism beyond the legal dimension of right and wrong can sometimes occur in history.
But I will say once more that the death of former Prime Minister Abe was not even the outcome of terrorism.
It was, however, death in battle as a politician.
Mr Ishihara would have grieved over the former prime minister's death, but I cannot shake the feeling that he might also have been jealous of how Mr Abe died.
Navigating Nagatacho
For unclear reasons, Mr Ishihara determined to be a politician and ran for election at the age of 35. He made a triumphant debut in the Upper House election, winning with over three million votes.
Then he was elected to the Lower House. After that, he ran in the Tokyo governor's election, only to be defeated. But he was reelected to the Lower House.
He was commended when he completed 25 years of service as a member of the Lower House of Japan's parliament. Then, abruptly in a speech, he announced that he was resigning from office. Japan had become a country of eunuchs, he declared in disgust. By that, he meant that his 25 years as a member of the Lower House were ultimately wasted.
Ishihara must have done everything in his power to navigate the political world of Nagatacho (the seat of government) and produce changes. But despite his efforts, his ideas were not accepted.
Nevertheless, Shinzo Abe effortlessly leapt over those hurdles and became prime minister. Furthermore, he once gave up the reins of government due to his illness, yet soon he successfully returned to power.
I can imagine how jealous Mr Ishihara must have been of Mr Abe's successful public life and sudden demise. After all, they lived in the same political world. Ishihara had also aspired to the position of prime minister, but in vain.
"Why didn't that happen to me?" he must have lamented.
Thoughts of Yukio Mishima
If Mr Ishihara had heard of the violent death of former Prime Minister Abe, he would likely have thought of Yukio Mishima. I imagine that, just before he stepped down as a member of the Lower House, Mr Ishihara might have talked to Yukio Mishima in his heart this way:
"Mishima-san, now I understand you're right. I, too, had great ambition as a politician to achieve something wonderful beyond imagination in this world for Japan, but the result was far from what I had hoped. For the life of me, I don't understand why people are such fools. Mishima-san, you knew too well, didn't you? That's why you resorted to such a bold move, ending your life by committing seppuku, isn't it?"
That's the reason he returned my statement with such a frustrated and displeased "Why?" Now I understand that.
Oaisis
Our exchange took place during the short period of time between vacating his Lower House seat and running again for Governor of Tokyo.
Mr Ishihara himself wrote about that brief interlude in his posthumous novel, The Life of a Man Called ”I” (Gentosha, 2022). "The four years after being honored for 25 years of service and resigning as a member of the Lower House were like an oasis in my life," he said. (P 271)
I don't believe it. Undoubtedly, there were brief moments when he might have held such a feeling, but it doesn't add up. Mr Ishihara was, so to speak, a man blessed by God. An oasis is an oasis because it is scattered in the desert. Only those who have felt desperation in the burning thirst of an endless stretch of parched desert can understand the hope of an oasis. But Mr Ishihara remained as thirsty as ever.
In any event, Mr Ishihara must have had a strong premonition that his life would end without finding anything worth dying for. Therefore, he responded to me in the heat of the moment, "Shut up. If I'm ever driven to die, I'll douse myself with kerosene and burn myself to death."
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(To read the book in Japanese, please visit the publisher's website.)
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Author: Shin Ushijima
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