About the book: 1974 / He was born in Tokyo on the morning of March 1, 1892 at the hour of the Dragon on the day of the Dragon, and therefore he was named Ryunosuke, because the semantic hieroglyph of this name is “ryu” means “dragon.” He received his initial and very thorough cultural training in the house of his adoptive father, and from childhood he was fond of reading Japanese and Chinese classics. In 1913, Akutagawa entered the Department of English Literature at Tokyo Imperial University and soon began his first experiments in fiction. Historical short stories about the paradoxes of psychology (“Rashomon Gate”, “The Nose”, “Sweet Potato Porridge”) won recognition from readers and publishers and promoted Akutagawa to the ranks of the best authors of that time. Introductory article by A. Strugatsky. Comments by N. Feldman. Illustrations by D. Bisti.