Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Japanese writer (1892-1927) · Japan · Writers · Died at 35

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa is read about 2,285 times a day, in 72 languages.

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He wrote short stories so precise they reset the form in Japan - then swallowed barbital at thirty-five. The country's top literary prize still carries his name.

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A life in dates

1927Died24 July 1927“Question: How about friends - how many do you have? Answer: Oh, my friendships reach over all boundaries of time and space - they are ancient, modern, from the east and from the west.”In their wordsKappa (1927), pp. 129-130 ISBN 978-0720613377 (Peter Owen Publishers, 2009)Read the whole statement

“Once he had finished writing “The Life of a Stupid Man,” he happened to see a stuffed swan in a secondhand shop.”In their wordsThe Life of a Stupid Man (1927), contained in Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories (Penguin Classics, 2009) ISBN 978-0140449709Read the whole statement

“We are human animals and thus fear death as animals do. The so-called “will to live” is nothing more than a different name for animal instinct.”In their wordsA Note to a Certain Old Friend (1927)Read the whole statement

1922“Truly, human life is as ephemeral as dew and as brief as lightning.”In their wordsIn a Grove (1922), quoted in A Study Guide for Ryunosuke Akutagawa's "In a Grove" (Gale, 2017).Read the whole statement

“When I kill a man, I do it with my sword, but people like you don't use swords.”In their words"In a Bamboo Grove" (1922), translation by Jay Rubin, as quoted in The New Yale Book of Quotations, p. 12.Read the whole statement

1916“A man sometimes devotes his life to a desire which he is not sure will ever be fulfilled. Those who laugh at this folly are, after all, no more than mere spectators of life.”In their wordsYam Gruel (1916), in Rashomon and Other Stories (Tuttle, 2011).Read the whole statement

1892Born1 March 1892

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In their own words 6

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

6 statements, newest first

Question: How about friends - how many do you have? Answer: Oh, my friendships reach over all boundaries of time and space - they are ancient, modern, from the east and from the west.
1927, Kappa (1927), pp. 129-130 ISBN 978-0720613377 (Peter Owen Publishers, 2009), Own words
Once he had finished writing “The Life of a Stupid Man,” he happened to see a stuffed swan in a secondhand shop.
1927, The Life of a Stupid Man (1927), contained in Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories (Penguin Classics, 2009) ISBN 978-0140449709, Own words
We are human animals and thus fear death as animals do. The so-called “will to live” is nothing more than a different name for animal instinct.
1927, A Note to a Certain Old Friend (1927), Own words

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Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

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Spouse Fumi Akutagawa

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About this person

Born 1 March 1892, Akutagawa wrote through the Taishō period with a compression that earned him the title "father of the Japanese short story." He used the art name Chōkōdō Shujin. His work cut so deep into the culture that Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, was named in his honor. On 24 July 1927, he took his own life through an overdose of barbital. He was thirty-five.

Country

Japan

Writers from Japan 6

Naoki Inose65.5 Yūna Suzuki65.2 Tsubasa Yamaguchi65.6

Shuntarō Tanikawa65.1

Iehiro Tokugawa65.8

Amélie Nothomb64.7

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