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The Temple of Dawn

by Yukio Mishima Book 3 in the The Sea of Fertility series.

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3.8(6,482)

Bangkok, 1941. Honda, now a successful lawyer, meets the child princess Ying Chan, who claims memories of Japan and whom he believes to be another reincarnation of Kiyoaki. Legal work in Thailand leads him into comparative study of Buddhism and a journey through India, where philosophy, desire and wartime uncertainty complicate his wish for demonstrable proof.

After the Pacific War and Allied occupation, the narrative resumes in prosperous early-1950s Japan. Ying Chan arrives as a university student, and Honda’s spiritual inquiry degenerates into voyeurism and possession. By placing wartime Asia beside postwar rebuilding, the novel tests whether reincarnation offers genuine continuity or merely supplies an elaborate language for Honda’s obsession.

Historical Periods

Pacific War1941–1945 CE Postwar Japan1945–1970 CE

Genres

Dynastic & Royal Fiction Historical Sagas Social & Domestic Fiction

Series reading order

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