Asia | Banyan
Remembering Mishima, a writer of genius who committed seppuku
To add to the spectacle, he first staged a quixotic “coup”
BIRTH IS THE obvious place to start a life story, but how can Mishima Yukio’s not begin with death? That of Japan’s finest author of the 20th century was both spectacular and absurd.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Death of a novelist”
Asia December 5th 2020
- Covid-19 has ravaged economies all over the world—but not Taiwan’s
- India’s super-rich are getting much richer
- As the federal government harrumphs, Australia moves away from coal
- Indonesian politics is becoming a family affair
- A crash in tourism leaves Japanese deer ravenous for treats
- Remembering Mishima, a writer of genius who committed seppuku
From the December 5th 2020 edition
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The Adani scandal takes the shine off Modi’s electoral success
The tycoon’s indictment clouds the prime minister’s prospects
Priyanka Gandhi: dynastic scion, and hope of India’s opposition
Poised to enter parliament, she may have bigger ambitions than that
The Caspian Sea is shrinking rapidly
This has big implications for Russia, which has come to rely on Central Asian ports
Racial tensions boil over in New Zealand
A controversial bill regarding Maori people punctures its relative harmony
Once a free-market pioneer, Sri Lanka takes a leap to the left
A new president with Marxist roots now dominates parliament too
The mystery of India’s female labour-force participation rate
A good news story? Maybe