Akutagawa ryunosuke biography channel

Japanese writer (1892–1927)

The native form of this personal name is Akutagawa Ryūnosuke. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (芥川 龍之介, Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, 1 March 1892 – 24 July 1927), art nameChōkōdō Shujin (澄江堂主人),^[2] was a Japanesewriter active in the Taishō period in Japan.

He is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story", and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him.^[3] He took his own life at the age of 35 through an overdose of barbital.^[4]

Early life

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa was born in Irifune, Kyōbashi, Tokyo City (present-day Akashi, Chūō, Tokyo), the eldest son of businessman Toshizō Niihara and his wife Fuku.

His family owned a milk production business.^[5] His mother experienced mental illness shortly after his birth, so he was adopted and raised by his maternal uncle, Michiaki Akutagawa, from whom he rec