Hiroyasu Koga
Hiroyasu Koga | |
---|---|
Japanese | å¤è³€æµ©é– |
Born |
1947/1948 (age 67–68) Japan |
Other names |
|
Known for | Role of kaishakunin (介錯人) in the 1970 Mishima Incident |
Hiroyasu Koga (Japanese: å¤è³€æµ©é– Koga Hiroyasu, born c. 1947) is a former Tatenokai (楯ã®ä¼š) member and kaishakunin responsible for the decapitations of Yukio Mishima and Masakatsu Morita during their seppuku on November 25, 1970. He studied law at Kanagawa University, and intended to become a lawyer.
Koga, known by the nickname Furu-Koga (distinguishing him from another Tatenokai member named Masayoshi Koga who was in turn nicknamed Chibi-Koga, å°è³€), was a skilled practitioner of kendo (swordsmanship). It was originally planned that Mishima would be decapitated by Masakatsu Morita, the Tatenokai's student leader; however, Morita was not trained in the sword and failed, at which point Koga stepped in to complete it. Koga then decapitated Morita as part of Morita's own seppuku.[1]
Koga and two other participating Tatenokai members (Masayoshi Koga and Masahiro Ogawa) went on trial on March 24, 1971,[2] facing charges of bodily injury, violence, illegal possession of firearms and swords,[3] and assisting a suicide.[4] They were convicted and sentenced to four years' penal servitude, but were released a few months early for good behavior.[5]
As of 2005, it was believed that he was a practising Shinto priest at a shrine on Shikoku.[6] However, an alternative theory is that he never became a Shinto priest, instead becoming the head of the Hokkaido branch of Seicho no Ie and was renamed Hiroyasu Arechi. It is further posited that he now resides in Kumamoto.[7]
References
- ↑ Stokes, Henry Scott (2000). The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima. Lantham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 30–32. ISBN 978-0815410744. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
- ↑ "Warrior code goes on trial". The Age. AAP-Reuter. 24 March 1971. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
- ↑ "3 Survivors Of 'Pact' Charged". Gadsden Times. AP. 24 November 1970. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
- ↑ Axelbank, Albert (6 January 1971). "Japan's Patriot: Suicidal Author in ‘Hero’ Status". Sarasota Journal. NANA. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
- ↑ "Japan has freed for good behavior...". Nashua Telegraph. 7 October 1974. p. 2.
- ↑ Sheridan, Michael (27 March 2005). "Briton let author commit hara-kiri". Sunday Times.
- ↑ Phillips, Brian (5 November 2014). "The Sea of Crises". Grantland.
- Koga, Masayoshi; Koga, Hiroyasu; Ogawa, Masahiro; Date, Munekatsu (1972). è£åˆ¤è¨˜éŒ„三島由紀夫事件 (Saiban kiroku Mishima Yukio jiken) [Court Transcript of the Yukio Mishima Incident] (in Japanese).