Ryūnosuke Akutagawa , art name Chōkōdō Shujin (澄江堂主人), was a Japanese writer 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. He took his own life at the age of 35 through an overdose of barbital.
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
A set photograph of 1919. The second subject from the left is Akutagawa. On the far left is Kan Kikuchi.
A manuscript page of "Horse Legs", 1925
The Akutagawa Prize is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes.
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, author, after whom the prize is named