On the morning of November 25, 1970, Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima left the just-completed manuscript of his last novel,
The Decay of the Angel, on his desk for his publisher to pick up, and then he paid a visit to the Headquarters of the Eastern Army at Ichigaya, which was a base for the Jieitai, or Japanese self-defense forces. With him were members of a student group he had formed, called the Tatenokai (Shield Society.) He and his pupils arrived ostensibly for a formal visit with General Kanetoshi Mashita, but they quickly turned the situation around. . .
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