| 柳川隆之介; 澄江堂主人; 寿陵余子; 我鬼 | |||||
Read works of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa at 小说之家 | |||||
芥川龙之介Early life
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa was born in the Kyōbashi district of Tokyo, the third child and only son of father Toshizō Niihara and mother Fuku Niihara (née Akutagawa). He was named "Ryūnosuke" ("Son [of] Dragon") because he was allegedly born in the Year of the Dragon, in the Month of the Dragon, on the Day of the Dragon, and at the Hour of the Dragon. His mother went insane shortly after his birth, so he was adopted and raised by his maternal uncle, Akutagawa Dōshō, from whom he received the Akutagawa family name. He was interested in classical Chinese literature from an early age, as well as the works of Mori Ōgai and Natsume Sōseki.
He entered the First High School in 1910, developing relationships with classmates such as Kan Kikuchi, Kume Masao, Yamamoto Yūzō, and Tsuchiya Bunmei, all of whom would later become authors. He began writing after entering Tokyo Imperial University in 1913, where he studied English literature.
While still a student he proposed marriage to a childhood friend, Yayoi Yoshida, but his adoptive family did not approve the union. In 1916 he became engaged to Fumi Tsukamoto, whom he married in 1918. They had three children: Hiroshi Akutagawa (1920–1981) was an actor, Takashi Akutagawa (1922–1945) was killed as a student draftee in Burma, and Yasushi Akutagawa (1925–1989) was a composer.
After graduation, he taught briefly at the Naval Engineering School in Yokosuka, Kanagawa as an English language instructor, before deciding to devote his full efforts to writing.
Literary career
A set photograph of 1919. The second from the left is Ryunosuke Akutagawa. At the far left is Kan Kikuchi.
In 1914, Akutagawa and his former high school friends revived the literary journal Shinshichō ("New Currents of Thought"), publishing translations of William Butler Yeats and Anatole France along with their own works.
Akutagawa published his first short story Rashōmon the following year in the literary magazine Teikoku Bungaku ("Imperial Literature"), while still a student. The story, based on a twelfth-century tale, was noticed by author Natsume Sōseki. Encouraged by the praise, Akutagawa thereafter considered himself Sōseki's disciple, and began visiting the author for his literary circle meetings every Thursday. It was also at this time that he started writing haiku under the haigo (or pen-name) Gaki.
These meetings led to Hana ("The Nose", 1916), which was published in Shinshicho. Akutagawa followed with a series of short stories set in Heian period, Edo period or early Meiji period Japan. These stories reinterpreted classical works and historical incidents.
Examples of these stories include: Gesaku zanmai ("A Life Devoted to Gesaku", 1917) and Kareno-shō ("Gleanings from a Withered Field", 1918), Jigoku hen ("Hell Screen", 1918); Hōkyōnin no shi ("The Death of a Christian", 1918), and Butōkai ("The Ball", 1920).
Akutagawa was a strong opponent of naturalism. He published Mikan ("Mandarin Oranges", 1919) and Aki ("Autumn", 1920) which have more modern settings.
In 1921, Akutagawa interrupted his writing career to spend four months in China, as a reporter for the Osaka Mainichi Shinbun. The trip was stressful and he suffered from various illnesses, from which his health would never recover. Shortly after his return he published Yabu no naka ("In a Grove", 1922).
Later life
The final phase of Akutagawa's literary career was marked by his deteriorating physical and mental health. Much of his work during this period is distinctly autobiographical, some even taken directly from his diaries. His works during this period include Daidōji Shinsuke no hansei ("The Early Life of Daidōji Shinsuke", 1925) and Tenkibo ("Death Register", 1926).
Akutagawa attacked author Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.by claiming that lyricism was more important than structure in a story.
Akutagawa's final works include Kappa (1927), a satire based on a creature from Japanese folklore, Haguruma ("Spinning Gears", 1927), Aru ahō no isshō ("A Fool's Life"), and the Bungeiteki na, amari ni bungeiteki na ("Literary, Much Too Literary", 1927).
Towards the end of his life, Akutagawa began suffering from visual hallucinations and nervousness over fear that he had inherited his mother's mental disorder. In 1927 he tried to take his own life, together with a friend of his wife, but the attempt failed. He finally committed suicide by taking an overdose of Veronal, which had been given to him by Saito Mokichi on July 24 of the same year. His dying words in his will claimed he felt a "vague uneasiness" 「ぼんやりとした不安」 (Bon'yaritoshita fuan?). He was 35 years old.
Legacy
Akutagawa wrote no full-length novels, focusing instead on short stories of which he wrote over 150 during his brief life. The classic film Rashōmon (1950) directed by Akira Kurosawa is a reasonably faithful retelling of Akutagawa's story In a Grove. Only the title and the frame scenes set in the Rashomon Gate are taken from Akutagawa's story, "Rashomon." In the film Kurosawa must finally offer a scene which purports to show the events as they would have appeared to an objective observer. In Akutagawa's story no such resolution is required and the reader is left with no guide but their own understanding to unravel an unexplained mystery.
In 1935, Akutagawa's lifelong friend Kan Kikuchi established the literary award for promising new writers, the Akutagawa Prize, in his honor.
Selected works
Year Japanese title English title
1914 老年 Rōnen Old Age
羅生門 Rashōmon Rashōmon
1916 鼻 Hana The Nose
芋粥 Imogayu Yam Gruel
手巾 Hankechi The Handkerchief
煙草と悪魔 Tabako to Akuma Tobacco and the Devil
1917 尾形了斎覚え書 Ogata Ryosai Oboe gaki Dr. Ogata Ryosai: Memorandum
戯作三昧 Gesakuzanmai Absorbed in writing popular novels
1918 蜘蛛の糸 Kumo no Ito The Spider's Thread
地獄変 Jigokuhen Hell Screen
枯野抄 Kareno shou A commentary on the desolate field for Bashou
邪宗門 Jashūmon Jashūmon
奉教人の死 Hōkyōnin no Shi The Martyr
1919 魔術 Majutsu Magic
龍 Ryū Dragon: the Old Potter's Tale
1920 舞踏会 Butou Kai A ball
秋 Aki Autumn
南京の基督 Nankin no Kirisuto Christ in Nanking
杜子春 Toshishun Tu Tze-chun
アグニの神 Aguni no Kami God of Aguni
1921 山鴫 YamaShigi A snipe
秋山 Akiyama Autumn Mountain
上海游記 Shanhai Yuki A report on the journey of Shanghai
1922 藪の中 Yabu no Naka In a Grove, also In a Bamboo Grove
将軍 Shogun The general
トロッコ Torokko A Lorry
1923 保吉の手帳から Yasukichi no Techou kara From Yasukichi's notebook
1924 一塊の土 Ikkai no Tsuchi A clod of earth
1925 大導寺信輔の半生 Daidoji Shinsuke no Hansei Daidoji Shinsuke: The Early Years
侏儒の言葉 Shuju no Kotoba Aphorisms by a pygmy
1926 点鬼簿 Tenkibo Death Register
1927 玄鶴山房 Genkaku Sanbō Genkaku's room
河童 Kappa Kappa
文芸的な、余りに文芸的な Bungeiteki na, amarini Bungeiteki na Literary, All-Too-Literary
歯車 Haguruma Spinning Gears
或阿呆の一生 Aru Ahō no Isshō Fool's Life
或旧友へ送る手記 Aru Kyūyū he Okuru Shuki A Note to a Certain Old Friend
西方の人 Saihō no Hito The Man of the West