Several high-school friends spend their final summer together indulging in sex and leisure; their halcyon days are soon coming to an end.
The story takes place during the end of the Pacific War and the aftermath period and it focuses on Mizoguchi, who is the son of a Buddhist Priest. When his father dies, he’s sent to the Temple of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto. Mizoguchi is physically unattractive and becomes, in some way, jealous of the beautiful Temple that he loves so much.
Detective Kikuchi is sent to Okinawa to investigate why a girl jumped from a window after shooting heroin. There, he encounters the usual assortment of addicts, dealers, pimps and sleazy American GIs.
