Kappa

When first published, Kappa was perceived varyingly as a children's story, a sweeping and satirical criticism of Japanese society, and a socialistic analysis - but this important work from one of Japan's most prolific short story writers seems to defy literary classification. Written shortly before Akutagawa's suicide, as he became increasingly obsessed with his own unhappiness as well as the hallucinations and delusions that assailed him, Kappa takes place somewhere between dream and reality. Kappa is told in the first person from the perspective of an institutionalized madman, identified only as Patient No. 23. Ghost stories and the supernatural often provided inspiration for Akutagawa's writing, and Kappa draws its name from a creature in Japanese folklore known for dragging unwary children to their deaths in rivers. Kappa is a striking work from the disturbed though brilliant mind of one of Meiji-era Japan's most prominent intellectuals.