Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (芥川 龍之介), art name Chōkōdō Shujin, was a renowned Japanese writer active during the Taishō period in Japan. He is often regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story", and the prestigious Akutagawa Prize is named in his honor.

Akutagawa was born in the Kyōbashi district of Tokyo as the eldest son of a dairy operator named Shinbara Toshizō and his wife Fuku. His birth name, "Ryūnosuke," meaning "Dragon Offshoot," was chosen because he was born in the Year of the Dragon, in the Month of the Dragon. His work is characterized by technical virtuosity and a brilliant joining of traditional material to a modern sensibility.

His psychological landscape was profoundly influenced by his mother's mental illness, making him a nervous and sickly child who found solace in the ceaseless reading of books in public libraries.

On July 24, 1927, Akutagawa tragically ended his own life at the age of 35 through an overdose of barbital.