| Akutagawa Ryunosuke |
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Akutagawa wrote no full-length Novel s, focusing instead on the Short Story as his main medium of expression. During his short life, he wrote over 150 short stories, including '' The Nose '', '' The Spider's Thread '', '' The Hell Screen '', '' Autumn '', '' The Ball (Akutagawa Story)The Ball '', '' In A Grove '', and '' Kappa ''. Akira Kurosawa directed the film '' Rashōmon '' ( 1950 ) based on Akutagawa's stories; the majority of the action in the film was actually an adaptation of ''In a Grove''. Akutagawa was born in Tokyo , the son of a milkman (Toshizoo Niihara). His mother (Fuku Niihara) went insane shortly after his birth, so he was adopted and raised by his maternal uncle, Akutagawa Dosho, from whom he got the family name "Akutagawa". He began writing after entering Tokyo Imperial University in 1913 , where he studied English Literature. He supported himself by teaching English and editing a Newspaper . At that time he published his short story '' Rashōmon '' ( 1914 ), which earned him the praise and encouragement by Soseki Natsume , and started ''The Nose'', which would be finished only a couple of years later. It was also at this time that he started writing Haiku under the ''haigo'' (or pen-name) Gaki. 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 ( 1920 - 1981 ) was a famous actor, Takashi Akutagawa ( 1922 - 1945 ) was killed in World War II , and Yasushi Akutagawa ( 1925 - 1989 ) was a famous composer. In 1921 , at the crest of his popularity, 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 ills, from which his health would never recover. Shortly after his return he published his most famous tale, ''In a Grove'' ( 1922 ). Towards the end of his life, he began suffering from visual Hallucinations and nervousness. In 1927 he tried to take his own life, together with a friend of his wife Aya, but the attempt failed. He finally committed Suicide (by taking an overdose of Veronal ) on July 24 of the same year. It was Saito Mokichi who gave him Veronal. His dying words in his will were ぼんやりとした不安 (''Bon'yaritoshita fuan'', meaning "dim uneasiness"). In 1935 , his lifelong friend Kan Kikuchi established Japan's most prestigious literary award, the Akutagawa Prize , in his honor. WORKS
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