
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.
“It is unfortunate for the gods that, unlike us, they cannot commit suicide.””
“He wanted to live life so intensely that he could die at any moment without regrets.””
“Yes -- or rather, it's not so much that I want to die as that I'm tired of living.””