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Ryunosuke Akutagawa

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Author

The Resume

    (March 1, 1892-July 24, 1927)
    Born in Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Japan
    'Father of the Japanese short story'
    Active during the Tasho period (1912-1926) of Japanese literature
    Namesake for the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, the nation's highest literary honor
    Best known work is the short story 'Rashomon' (1915)
    Also wrote 'Hana' ('The Nose; 1916), 'Gesaku zanmai' ('A Life Devoted to Gesaku'; 1917), 'Karen-sho' ('Gleanings from a Withered Field'; 1918), 'Jigoku hen' ('Hell Screen'; 1918), 'Hokyonin no shi' ('The Death of a Christian'; 1918), Butokai' ('The Ball'; 1920), 'Mikan' ('Mandarin Oranges'; 1919), 'Aki' ('Autumn'; 1920), 'Yabu no naka' ('In a Grove'; 1922), 'Shinsuke no hansei' ('The Early Life of Daidoji Shinsuke'; 1925), 'Tenkibo' ('Death Register'; 1926), and 'Kappa' (1927)
    Committed suicide, at the age of 35, with an overdose of barbital (Jul. 24, 1927)

Why he might be annoying:

    One of his stories provided the title for an episode of Mama's Family ('Rashomama').
    He had a heavily publicized feud with fellow Japanese lariat Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.
    He proposed to a childhood friend in high school, but was turned down.
    His 'Rashomon' story has very little in common with its famous film counterpart, outside of the title.
    Actually, the Akira Kurosawa movie is more based off of another short story he penned, called 'In the Grove.'
    His works have been accused of depicting female characters in an extremely unflattering light (usually casting the men as victims of their domineering nature/jealousy).
    He was so afraid that he would inherit his mother's history of mental instability that he suffered a nervous breakdown, hallucinating and waging at least one failed attempt to commit suicide.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was on the same level as Franz Kafka.
    He was raised by an aunt and uncle after his mother was committed to an insane asylum.
    He and his schoolmates revived a popular Japanese literary magazine, publishing translations of W.B. Yeats and Anatole France along with their own material.
    He was mentored by Japanese literary great Natsume Sōseki.
    His familiarity with Western literature granted his work crossover appeal, making him one of the first prewar Japanese writers to achieve a wide foreign readership.
    He is the inspiration and namesake for an antagonist character in the popular 'Port Mafia' anime series.
    Ukrainian composer Victoria Poleva wrote the ballet Gagaku (1994), based on Akutagawa's Hell Screen.
    'Rashomon' was turned into an Opera based on his original story by Japanese composer Mayako Kubo (2002).
    His first name means 'Son of Dragon' (he was 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).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying