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In postwar Kyoto, Mizoguchi Goichi (Ichikawa Raizo VIII), a stuttering and troubled youth, arrives at Shukaku Temple seeking solace and spiritual purpose as an apprentice monk before the Conflagration.
Raised in a temple and inspired by his father’s stories of Shukaku Temple’s eternal divine beauty, Goichi is enchanted by its serenity yet tormented by memories of his mother’s adultery and his father’s death.
As the world around the temple begins to intrude — tainted by vanity, lust, and hypocrisy — his ideal of pure beauty twists into something darker.
The hypocritical and greedy head priest, Tayama Dosen (Nakamura Ganjiro II), and a manipulative, cynical friend (Nakadai Tatsuya) leave Goichi questioning the faith in humanity and religion that he had long cherished.
Tormented, he one day decides to take destructive action towards his beloved Shunkaku Temple to preserve it — but at a devastating cost.
Inspired by true events and Mishima Yukio’s novel The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, this haunting psychological drama examines the fragile boundary between reverence and fanaticism, revealing the turbulent inner conflicts at the heart of the human condition.
Director Ichikawa Kon (The Inugami Family, JFTFP25; Ten Dark Women, JFTFP20) captures Goichi’s unravelling with masterful style.
The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026
Knowing Me, Knowing You: The True Self in Japanese Cinema.
The UK’s largest festival of Japanese cinema, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme (JFTFP),is back again. This is the place where cinema comes alive!
Knowing others—let alone ourselves—is not easy, as we behave differently depending on the relationship, environment, or even intention. In an age of advanced digital technology, where imagery can be readily manipulated, it is even harder to define who we, or others, truly are.
With these questions in mind, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026 showcases some of the most unmissable Japanese films nationwide across the UK.
From powerful social crime dramas and laugh-out-loud comedies to gender-defining films, fantasy, and horror, the programme offers something for everyone.
See all our JFTFP 2026 screenings!
Co-presented by:
Supported by:
Sponsors in kind:
Ticket prices:
Standard £11.50 Concessions £10.50 Students £5.50
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Certificate: 18
Length: 114 minutes
Director: Ichikawa Kon
Cast: Ichikawa Raizo VIII, Nakamura Ganjiro II and Nakadai Tatsuya
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
Dates and times
Saturday 07 February 2026 | 2:00 pm