Brief tour of social entrepreneurship in Japan: From pre-modern Japan to post-Fukushima Tōhoku

Abstract

Among the several countries which contributed to the creation of Mishima´s universe, Spain has long been forgotten despite the big impression Spanish culture left on the Japanese writer. The relation between Mishima and Spain is full of emotional ups and slumps, deception and frustration. However, Spanish culture is always visible in his writings in one way or another, from his first visit to Madrid in 1958 until his suicide in 1970. This paper aims to clarify the role Spain and its culture, usually under the shape of flamenco and bullfighting, have in Mishima´s thought, as well as the cultural dimension the writer gives to Spain in contrast to Japan and some other Western countries. In order to carry out a successful analysis, several texts collected from novels, interviews and newspapers translated into Spanish will be introduced. Moreover, those texts will be connected through three important figures of the time who left an undeniable influence on Mishima: the flamenco dancers Antonio el Bailarín and Katori Kiyoko and the historian Luis Díez del Corral. By doing this, we will also add nuance to our understanding of why Mishima understood Spain in the way he did.