The story of a man coming to terms with his homosexuality in traditional Japanese society has become a modern classic.

For the first time in English, a glittering novella about stardom from “one of the greatest avant-garde Japanese writers of the twentieth century” (Judith Thurman, The New Yorker)

Winner of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

All eyes are on Rikio. And he likes it, mostly. His fans cheer, screaming and yelling to attract his attention—they would kill for a moment alone with him. Finally the director sets up the shot, the camera begins to roll, someone yells “action”; Rikio, for a moment, transforms into another being, a hardened young yakuza, but as soon as the shot is finished, he slumps back into his own anxieties and obsessions. Being a star, constantly performing, being watched and scrutinized as if under a microscope, is often a drag. But so is life. Written shortly after Yukio Mishima himself had acted in the film “Afraid to Die,” this novella is a rich and unflinching psychological portrait of a celebrity coming apart at the seams. With exquisite, vivid prose, Star begs the question: is there any escape from how we are seen by others?

"The Temple of the Golden Pavilion"

- Prologue -

On July 2, 1950, the shocking news startled the public eyes and ears that national treasure “Kinkaku-ji” was destroyed by setting it afire and the arson was the young monk of this temple.

The agony and distress of a young monk hidden in the shadow of this incident - undelitable curse of his life, shouldering a fateful child with carrying a handy.

His soul was robbed by the magical power of the beauty of “Kinkaku” and finally immersed in fantasy as it was a tragedy.

An immortal masterpiece - 31 years old genius Mishima wrote in an exquisite style of the confession prose as the final settlement of his youth.