Mishima incident

The Mishima incident (三島事件, Mishima jiken) occurred on November 25, 1970, when the Japanese author Yukio Mishima committed seppuku (ritual suicide) after calling on the Japan Self-Defense Forces to stage a coup d'état to abolish Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution and appealing to his own ideas and beliefs about reconstructing true national autonomy. The incident is sometimes called the Tatenokai incident (楯の会事件, Tatenokai jiken), after the private militia led by Mishima whose members took part.

The incident shocked Japan and made international headlines because of such a renowned author's unprecedented actions. Mishima's death was seen to mark the end of an era. It also had a major impact on Japan's political climate, including the rise to the New Right, which grew out of minzoku-ha. A survey conducted by the monthly magazine Bungei Shunjū in 2000 on the "20 Greatest Events of the 20th Century," the Mishima Incident was ranked second, ahead of global events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall.

While the incident constituted a political protest meant to demonstrate their political vision, judicial investigations and Mishima's suicide notes reveal that the action itself was not intended to effect a government overthrow or a seizure of power. Even so, the incident is considered to possess significant historical importance and to have exerted a lasting impact on Japanese society.