Photo/Illutration Junnosuke Yoshiyuki in 1990 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Author Junnosuke Yoshiyuki (1924-1994) preferred levity over gravity.

In his collection of essays titled “Keihaku no Susume” (In praise of frivolity), which became a bestseller in the 1970s, Yoshiyuki criticized society’s penchant for unqualified glorification of gravity.

“What is needed is not weighty portentousness that inspires fear, but trenchant frivolousness,” he asserted.

Half a century has elapsed since then, and I am now mulling over this statement which the popular author is said to have infused with mockery and irony.

This world is superficial enough. So, why did Yoshiyuki make a point to ridicule gravity or solemnity?

Yoshiyuki was a 20-year-old student when he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army one year before Japan’s defeat in World War II. As he passed the physical exam as a Grade One conscript, he was bound to be shipped to the front line.

But on his third day in the military, he was diagnosed with asthma. Granted an immediate discharge, the prospect of almost certain death vanished at once.

The lives of individuals are treated extremely lightly in wartime. With the military throwing its weight around everywhere back then, society was repressive and rigid.

Yoshiyuki described that atmosphere as “ludicrously grave.”

A cool writer with a delightfully light and witty style, he was also capable of weaving prose that was elegant and sensitive.

And I was impressed by what he said about Yukio Mishima (1925-1970): “His own personality must tire him.” And Yoshiyuki went on to note that he, himself, was “wishy-washy and flabby by nature,” not “high-spirited and assertive.”

He was born on this day 100 years ago.

I pulled out a weathered and yellowed paperback of one of his works and turned the pages.

Yoshiyuki may not be a particularly sought-after author today. But his ability to unwind really interests me, now that certain outmoded assertions have come to be associated with gallantry or valor, which is disturbing.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 13

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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