Yukio Mishima’s KINKAKUJI

CONTEMPORARY THEATER | JAPAN SOCIETY WORLD PREMIERE COMMISSION

Adapted from the novel Kinkakuji (The Temple of the Golden Pavillion) for the stage by Leon Ingulsrud and Major Curda. Stage Design by Chiharu Shiota.

Thursday, September 11 at 7 pm**—Followed by a Gallery Exhibition opening reception
Friday, September 12 at 7:30 pm***—Preceded by an Artist Talk with Chiharu Shiota and Leon Ingulsrud
Saturday, September 13 at 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 14 at 2:30 pm
Tuesday, September 16 at 7:30 pm—Preceded by a pre-performance lecture at 6:30 pm
Wednesday, September 17 at 7:30 pm—Followed by an Artist Q&A
Thursday, September 18 at 7:30 pm
Friday, September 19 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, September 20 at 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm

**The September 11 performance coincides with the opening of the Fall Gallery exhibition Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries, a newly commissioned, site-specific installation by Chiharu Shiota commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Tickets to the September 11 performance of KINKAKUJI include entry to the Gallery opening and reception following immediately after the performance.

***Please note: The moderated Artist Talk on September 12 requires a separate ticket purchase. Tickets for this talk will go on sale at a later date – more details will be provided soon.

Yukio Mishima’s tour de force novel is now adapted as a feverish stage spectacle, created by a distinctive international team consisting of Leon Ingulsrud (SITI Company co-founder), rising young Korean-American actor Major Curda, and Berlin-based Chiharu Shiota, one of the most celebrated visual artists of her generation. Mishima’s spiraling psychological drama, based on a true and horrific post-war act of arson in which an alienated young Buddhist monk set fire to the sacred, gold-leaf clad 14th-century Kinkakuji temple, dissects the motivations of disaffected youths yearning to “burn it all down.” In this rare stage production of the novel, Curda stars as the titular monk under Ingulsrud’s direction, while Shiota’s starkly beautiful stage design – brought to the U.S. for the first time – offers an unprecedented level of immersion in a Mishima dreamscape. 

KINKAKUJI is produced through special arrangement with Concord Theatricals Corporation.

On Tuesday, September 17, a pre-performance lecture on Japan’s immediate post-war years and the historical act of arson against Kinkakuji.

Part of the Yukio Mishima Centennial Series: Emergences
September—December 2025

Save 20% when you purchase a ticket to any 3 programs in the Yukio Mishima Centennial Series: Emergences (excludes workshops / talks and Access Seats tickets). Offer only valid for tickets purchased in the same transaction.

Your ticket for performances on September 12 – 20 also includes complimentary, same-day admission for one person to Chiharu Shiota: Two Home Countries, on view at Japan Society Gallery through January 11, 2026. To view the exhibition please show your ticket/receipt to the Welcome Desk for free admission before the performance. (September 11 ticket includes Gallery exhibition and opening reception entry immediately following the performance.)

Images: Sketches for KINKAKUJI by Chiharu Shiota © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2025 and Chiharu Shiota; Leon Ingulsrud © Courtesy of the artist; Chiharu Shiota, Berlin, 2024 © Photo by Sunhi Mang; Major Curda © Carey Sheffield; Yukio Mishima on the roof the Bungeishunju Building in Tokyo, 1956 (Public Domain)

2025-26 Japan Society Season Support

Japan Society’s 120th anniversary initiatives and related programs are generously supported by Champion Sponsor, MUFG Bank, Ltd.; Advocate Sponsor, Mizuho Americas; and Friend Sponsor, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas).

2025-26 Performing Arts Season Support

Japan Society programs are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

The season is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Additional, major support is generously provided by Doug and Teresa Peterson, Howard Gilman Foundation, and Jun Makihara and Megumi Oka. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund, John and Miyoko Davey Foundation, and a leadership gift from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Program support is provided by The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; Hisamitsu America, Inc.; Cheryl Henson; Merit E. Janow; Paula S. Lawrence; Akiko Mikumo; Hiroko Onoyama; Richard and Momona Royce; Dr. Jeanette C. Takamura; Nancy and Joe Walker; Estate of Alan M. Suhonen, and other Performing Arts supporters.

All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. is the official airline of the Japan Society Performing Arts Program. Yamaha is the official piano provider of Japan Society.

Program Support & Partners

The Yukio Mishima Centennial Series: Emergences is supported by Doug and Teresa Peterson.

Yukio Mishima’s KINKAKUJI is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and New York State Legislature, Japan Foundation New York, and the Goethe-lnstitut with support from the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. Air travel between Berlin and New York is generously provided by Delta Air Lines. KINKAKUJI is produced through special arrangement with Concord Theatricals Corporation.