Osamu Dazai

The famous Japanese author known by the penname Osamu Dazai was born with the name Shūji Tsushima in 1909. He belonged to a large family that was wealthy and influential, having found success in moneylending. As one of the richest landowners in the Aomori Prefecture, Dazai’s father became a politician in Japan’s House of Peers, which ultimately meant he was absent for most of Dazai’s childhood—he died of lung cancer shortly before Dazai entered high school in 1923. Dazai eventually went on to study literature at Hirosaki University, where he edited and wrote for several student publications. However, he soon lost all interest in school when one of his favorite writers, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, died by suicide in 1927. Dazai started spending his money on alcohol and sex workers, and—two years later—he tried to take his own life. He survived and was ultimately able to graduate the following year. He then went to Tokyo Imperial University to study French literature, but he was expelled for not going to class. Shortly thereafter, he tried again to die by suicide, this time attempting to drown alongside a woman he’d met at a bar. The woman died, but Dazai was rescued by a passing boat. Because his powerful family intervened on his behalf, he narrowly avoided legal repercussions for the woman’s death. In the ensuing years, Dazai wrote and published a number of short stories, experimenting with his characteristically autobiographical style. He tried to die by suicide again in the 1930s but survived once more. He became addicted to painkillers after a bout with appendicitis and, to overcome his addiction, was eventually taken to a psychiatric ward—an experience he writes about in one of his best-known novels, No Longer Human. Despite his tumultuous personal life and crushing struggle with depression, Dazai wrote many novels in the 1930s and 1940s, including what is perhaps his most famous book, The Setting Sun, in 1947. He died in a double suicide in 1948, drowning himself alongside his mistress, Tomie Yamazaki.