Ryünosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) is one of Japan�s foremost stylists - a modernist master whose short stories are marked by highly original imagery, cynicism, beauty and wild humour. �Rashömon� and �In a Bamboo Grove� inspired Kurosawa�s magnificent film and depict a past in which morality is turned upside down, while tales such as �The Nose�, �O-Gin� and �Loyalty� paint a rich and imaginative picture of a medieval Japan peopled by Shoguns and priests, vagrants and peasants. And in later works such as �Death Register�, �The Life of a Stupid Man� and �Spinning Gears�, Akutagawa drew from his own life to devastating effect, revealing his intense melancholy and terror of madness in exquisitely moving impressionistic stories.