Long-lost footage of Japanese novelist's debate never actually disappeared

Footage once thought lost of a Japanese poet and novelist has been recovered and will be the center of an upcoming documentary, reports Variety magazine.

The writing style of Yukio Mishima — best known for Confessions of a Mask and The Temple of the Golden Pavilion — was highly praised and earned him a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize.

However, Mishima was also a Japanese nationalist who wanted the emperor’s powers restored; he committed suicide in 1970, a year after failing to inspire an army mutiny.

The footage recently found depicts a debate between Mishima and students at Tokyo University — itself the topic of the film Mishima: The Last Debate.

Read more about the documentary in Variety.