Mishima and the Temple of Dawn

The burning of Kinkaku-ji inspired one of modern Japan's greatest literary works, Yukio Mishima's 'The Temple of the Golden Pavilion'. This narrative explores the true story of the arsonist, Hayashi Yoken, through the lens of Mishima's fictionalized account. We'll trace the parallels between the real monk's troubled life—his stutter, his poverty, his obsession—and the novel's protagonist, examining how Mishima transformed a shocking crime into a profound exploration of beauty, nihilism, and postwar Japanese identity.