The author Yukio Mishima wrote an opinion piece to The Asahi Shimbun in January 1968, about three years before he committed suicide in the Self-Defense Forces camp in Tokyo's Ichigaya district.
The article began with the word patriotism and I do not really like it. Although he was considered a hero by the right for his ritual suicide by disembowelment, Mishima seemed to have an abhorrence for the state's attempts to stir patriotic fervor.
He wrote that the word reeks of government initiatives. There is something obtrusive about it. Antipathy lurks at its bottom, which is what causes it to grow more severe. One student who was involved in the right-wing movement felt a sense of aversion when he was involved in the article.
Kunio Suzuki, who went on to start a new right-wing group called Issuikai, thought that Mishima-san shouldn't have written such a stupid article.
Suzuki believed that children should be imbibed by education with a spirit of patriotism.
He sang the Kimigayo national anthem more than 10,000 times and hoisted the Hinomaru national flag more than 10,000 times in the ensuing years.
While he thought of himself as being more patriotic than anyone else, in his book Aikokushin ni Ki wo Tsukero Beware of patriotism Suzuki wrote in 1968, I now understand what Mishima said in 1968. In recent years, Suzuki has been denounced as a traitor. He was criticised for comments like, An imposed Constitution that guarantees freedom is better than a self-enacted Constitution that does not. There is nothing good if a nation upholds a set of thoughts. His house was even the target of an arson attack.
I am aware of the dangers of patriotism, as a result of my life, said Suzuki. I realize that love for one's country can cause reckless behavior. Suzuki, a unique writer who refused to think within the ideological framework of either the right or the left, died recently. Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that covers a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. The column, written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, provides useful insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.