Editing Tatenokai (section)

== Background ==
The Tatenokai was a militia organization that took over from its predecessor, the {{Nihongo|"Japan National Guard"|祖国防衛隊|Sokoku Bōeitai|}}, which was founded in 1967.<ref name="o-ency-tate"/> The original members were the staff of [[minzoku-ha|New Right]] monthly magazine {{Nihongo|''Controversy Journal''|[[:ja:論争ジャーナル|論争ジャーナル]]|Ronsō jaanaru|}} and several [[Waseda University]] students.<ref name="suzu1-mochi">{{Harvnb|Suzuki|2005|pp=15–22}}</ref> They had enlisted in the [[Japan Self-Defense Forces]] with Yukio Mishima in 1967, and after changing its name to Tatenokai, the group gradually increased its membership by allowing new students to enlist in the JSDF.<ref name="suzu1-mochi"/>

The Tatenokai was officially founded on October 5, 1968. Mishima decided to increase the size of the private army due to his growing alarm over the scale of [[1968–1969 Japanese university protests|left-wing protests in Japan]] and to this end placed recruitment advertisements in right-wing newspapers. Membership ultimately rose to 100 members, most of whom were students at Waseda University.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Vanguard Performance Beyond Left and Right|last=Jannarone|first=Kimberly|date=2015|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=9780472119677|location=Ann Arbor|pages=95}}</ref> Along with outdoor activities, the members, who joined voluntarily, were subjected to rigorous physical training that included kendo and long-distance running.<ref name=":0" />