Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1 March 1892 – 24 July 1927), was a Japanese writer famous for his short stories. He was born in Tokyo, Japan. His friend are Kikuchi Kan, Kume Masao, and etc..., and he published literary magazine named "Shinshicho" with them. His first work is "Rounenn". His story "Hana" (The Nose) was highly estimated by his master Natsume Soseki. 
A chronological table[change | change source]
- 1892 3 He born as shinbara family.
- 1902 4 He entered Kotojinjyo high school.
- 1902 11 His mother has died.
- 1904 8 He became adopted child of Akutagawa family.
- 1915 8 He has finished writing a novel ''Rashomon''.
- 1915 10 He was Natsume Soseki's student.
- 1915 11 He published a novel ''Rashomon'' by a magazine.
- 1916 4 He published a novel ''Hana'' by ''Shinshicho''.
- 1919 3 He got married to Tsukamoto Fumi.
- 1920 3 His eldest son Hiroshi was born.
- 1921 7 He went to China as an office worker of a newspaper.
- 1922 5 He releases his first essay collection ''Tenshin''.
- 1922 11 His child Takashi was born.
- 1925 7 His child Yasushi was born.
- 1927 7 He committed suicide by taking poison at his own room.
- 1935 1 Akutagawa prize which is a literary award was established.
Main works[change | change source]
|Rashomon(Gate in old Kyoto;Rashomon)||This story tell about a poor young man who struggle in deciding whether to take to evil ways and live, or to die from starvation.|
|Hana(The Nose)||This story's main character is a monk, who dislikes about his very long nose.|
|Kumonoito(A Spider's Thread)||The Buddha tries to help a bad person from Hell to hang a spider's thread, because he did only one good thing before his death. However his way to climb a thread change the Buddha's feeling.|
|Jigokuhen(Picture Of Hell)||This story is about a genius artist who draws a picture of his daughter who is dying in fire.|
|Yabunonaka(The Truth's Still a Mystrery)||A police of those days examines people who have something to do with a case of murder. It's so difficult for leaders to find a criminal.|
|Kappa(River Goblin)||This story express human's weak point through kappas.|
Akutagawa's death[change | change source]
Akutagawa committed suicide by taking mass sleeping pills at age of 35. It was written that "vague anxiety about my future." in his suicide note. Akutagawa is one of many Japanese writers who have committed suicide. Other writers include Dazai Osamu, Mishima Yukio and Kawabata Yasunari.
References[change | change source]
- "Time (magazine)". http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822615,00.html. Retrieved 2 February 2015.