Akutagawa Ryunosuke
Akutagawa Ryunosuke (芥川 龍之介 or 芥川竜之介, March 1,1892 - July 24,1927) was a Japanese writer.
Akutagawa wrote no full-length novels, focusing instead on the short story as his main medium of expression. He began writing after entering Tokyo Imperial University in 1913 and was further encouraged by the praise of Natsume Soseki for his short story "Rashomon". He supported himself by teaching English and editing a newspaper. During his short life, he wrote over 150 short stories, the more famous including "The Nose", "The Spider's Thread", "The Hell Screen", "Autumn", "The Ball", "In a Grove", and "Kappa". Akira Kurosawa directed the film Rashomon based on Akutagawa's stories; the majority of the action in the film was actually an adaptation of "In a Grove".
Towards the end of his life, he began suffering from visual hallucinations and nervousness, and finally committed suicide in 1927, saying ぼんやりとした不安 (Bonyaritoshita fuan, meaning "dim uneasiness"). In 1935, his lifelong friend Kikuchi Kan established Japan's most prestigious literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, in his honor.
See also: Japanese literature, List of Japanese authors
Referenced By
Akutagawa Prize | Aozora Bunko: S | Family name | Famous People Who Have Commited Suicide | Famous People Who Have Committed Suicide | Kappa | Kappa (letter) | Last name | List of Japan-related topics 123-K | List of Japanese authors:A | List of authors by name: R | List of books by title: R | List of famous people who have committed suicide | List of famous suicides | List of novelists | List of novelists by nationality | List of people by name: Ry | List of people who commited suicide | Rashomon | Rashomon (movie) | Rashomon (novel) | Shiga Naoya | Surname | Tokyo Daigaku | Tokyo Imperial University | Tokyo University | University of Tokyo | University of Tokyo, School of Science
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