Ryūnosuke Akutagawa 芥川龍之介 (1892-1927), the Japanese novelist known for Rashōmon and Kappa, was also a talented kanshi poet. That is to say, he mastered the delicate art of composing classical style poems in Chinese like those aristocrats did in the Heian period. Living during the Taishō to Shõwa period, he beheld the rapid change of … Continue reading A New Year Kanshi poem by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa