Veranstaltung

After Mishima Yukio's spectacular seppuku suicide in 1970, which made him notorious in the remotest corners of the globe, attention in Japan and abroad subsided briefly, even though throughout the 1970s and 1980s, many translations of his works were published. What makes his impact unique, however, is the extent to which he has since influenced many artists and intellectuals all over the world. Mishima has inspired films, dramas, ballets, operas, essays, performances, and other works of art by well-known figures and cultural icons such as Paul Schrader, Maurice Béjart, Bob Wilson, Marguerite Yourcenar, Hans Werner Henze, Ingmar Bergman, Murakami Takashi, Mayuzumi Toshir?, Benoît Jacquot and Yokoo Tadanori, to mention only some of the names that come to mind in this context.

Perhaps his international impact is also due to the multicultural roots of his own creativity. Mishima himself has stressed his commitment to a multitude of literary and cultural traditions and canons, from classical Greece to Fin de siècle symbolism, from Buddhism and theatrical genres of premodern Japan through twentieth century French or German literature, or from Yamamoto J?ch?, the Japan Romantic School through Nietzsche and Russian authors of the 1960s.

In Japan as well as on a global scale, the time seems ripe to reassess Mishima's relevance, his fascination as well as the problematic involved. In Japan, we observe a renewed interest in Mishima, as a new generation turns to his work. Mishima, who crisscrossed every genre from theatre to novels, cinema, photographical and other self-performances, as well as bodybuilding, moved freely between high culture and subculture. Is Mishima, who was long traded as a political reactionary, turning into a model of Japanese "cool", as was recently suggested? Why have artists of the most different kinds of orientation turned to him for inspiration? What are the sources of his own creativity? And what is Mishima's relevance for today's world? These are questions which the conference intends to address.

Thursday, March 18th, 2010
Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Science and Humanities
Leibniz-Hall, Markgrafenstraße 38, 10117 Berlin-Mitte
English and Japanese with simultaneous translation

14.00
Opening Addresses
Wilhelm Voßkamp
Member
Berlin-Brandenburgische Academy of Sciences and Humanities

Shinyo Takahiro
Ambassador of Japan to Germany, Embassy of Japan

Shimizu Yoichi
Deputy Secretary General, Japanese-German Center Berlin

14.20
Introductory Remarks:
Mishima's Afterlife in Global Arts, Literature, and Film
Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit
Berlin

14.45
Presentations

Donald Keene
Translator and Scholar of Literature, Tokyo/New York

Boris Akunin
Writer, Moscow/Paris

Hosoe Eikoh
Photographer, Tokyo

Ivica Buljan
Stage Director, Ljubljana

Yokoo Tadanori
Artist, Tokyo

Hirano Keiichir?
Writer, Tokyo

Break

17.15
Panel Discussion with all Presentators:
Mishima's Artistic Legacies

Friday, March 19th, 2010
Freie Universität Berlin, Henry-Ford-Bau, Hörsaal D
Garystraße 35, 14195 Berlin-Dahlem
English, with adhoc Japanese translation

09.30
Welcome Address
Verena Blechinger-Talcott
Dean, Faculty of History and Cultural Studies
Freie Universität Berlin

09.45
Is Terrorism Beautiful?
Mishima Today
Miura Masashi
Tokyo

10.30
If Mishima Still Treads the Boards
Experimental Research in International Theatre and Music
Virginia Sica
Milano

11.00
Mishima in the Arts
Hayashi Michio
Tokyo

Lunch break

13.30
Mishima in the Literatures of the World
Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit
Berlin

14.15
What is 'Asian' about Mishima's Literature?
Terenguto Aitoru
Sapporo / Ulan Bator

15.00
Mishima's Reception in Korea
Hong Yun-Pyo
Seoul

Break

16.15
Mishima and Racine
Donald Keene
Tokyo/New York

17.00
Mishima Yukio's 'Voices of the Heroic Dead' - a Modern N?-Play
Rebecca Mak
Berlin

17.45
"The Flower of Evil" in Mishima Yukio's Drama
David Goodman
Urbana

Saturday, March 20th, 2010
Freie Universität Berlin, Henry-Ford-Bau, Hörsaal D
Garystraße 35, 14195 Berlin-Dahlem
English, with adhoc Japanese translation

09.30
Regression of Fin-de-Siècle Aesthetics to Radical Nationalism:
Some Remarks on the Theme of Mishima and Nietzsche
Mishima Ken'ichi
Tokyo

10.15
Mishima or Recognition Denied:
Philosophical Subtexts
Gerhard Bierwirth
Frankfurt

Break

11.30
Mishima and French Psychological Novels
Noriko Thunman
Gothenburg

12.15
Mishima and the Fascination of Fascism
Alan Tansman
Berkeley

13.00
Summary/Final Words

HOSTS:

Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Freie Universität Berlin
Japanese-German Center Berlin