With his brightest and extraordinary literary heritage, the Japanese writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1925) is one of the most highly respected masters of the short story of the twentieth century. The writer who addressed in his work topics covering historical chronicles, legends, parables, employed all his talent to reveal the deep human psychology, the underneath layer of events that visually seem simple with his own particular style and soft irony.
Akutagawa’s prose concentrates on the deepest layers of the existence of a human being as an individual. Some characters in the novels included in this edition find a solution to vital problems passing through a hard spiritual choice, while others, quite the opposite, go with the stream without being lost deep in thoughts …
Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the short-lived writer who committed suicide at the age of 35, gave a particular touch to each of his novels. If an attentive reader is able to discover them and draw up as a mosaic panel, Akutagawa’s greatness will impress him/her. 
Translated by Rovshan Ramizoglu.