Akutagawa, Ryunosuke

Akutagawa, Ryunosuke (ryoonô'sooke" äkOO'tä'gä'wä) [key], pseud. of Chōkōdō Shujin (chōkō'dō shOO'jin) [key], 1892–1927, Japanese author. One of Japan's finest short-story writers, he derived many of his tales from historical Japanese sources, but told them with psychological insights in an individualistic style. “Rashomon”(1915) and “In a Grove” (1921) were made into the classic 1950 film Rashomon, directed by Akira Kurosawa. His later writings, largely autobiographical fiction, were not successful, and this lack of popular response may have contributed to his suicide.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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