Facts about Osamu Dazai

1. 14

   Born Tsushima Shūji in 1909, Dazai grew up in Kanagi, a remote town in Aomori Prefecture, as the son of a wealthy landowner and politician.

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2. 13

   A prolific correspondent, Dazai wrote thousands of letters throughout his life, with many collections published posthumously revealing his intimate thoughts on writing, relationships, and existential despair.

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3. 12

   Dazai's 1937 essay collection Tokyo Hayakawa showcased his distinctive blend of dark humor and social criticism that would define his literary voice for the remainder of his career.

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4. 11

   Dazai's short story Villon's Wife won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1940, establishing him as a major literary figure in Japan's modernist movement.

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5. 10

   Dazai's first suicide attempt occurred in 1929 at age 23 with a waitress named Hatsuyo, an event that foreshadowed the tragic patterns defining his final decade.

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6. 09

   Dazai's 1946 story The Setting Sun depicted the decline of the Japanese aristocracy through a female protagonist and became his second most celebrated work after No Longer Human.

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7. 08

   Beloved writer Osamu Dazai published his debut novel Determination in 1933 while still a student at Tokyo University, launching a literary career that would span fifteen years until his death.

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8. 07

   At age 38, Osamu Dazai died on June 13, 1948, in a double suicide pact with his lover Tomie Yamazaki in the Tamaike Canal of Tokyo.

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9. 06

   Osamu Dazai battled severe drug addiction throughout the 1930s and 1940s, struggling particularly with dependency on sleeping pills and painkillers that affected his writing productivity.

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10. 05

    Dazai's 1939 novella Run Away became a psychological portrait of escapism that influenced post-war Japanese literature and established his reputation for depicting moral alienation.

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11. 04

    The pseudonym Osamu Dazai adopted in 1935 replaced his birth name Tsushima Shūji, which he used until establishing himself as a writer in Tokyo's literary circles.

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12. 03

    During his final years, Dazai published Stories Under the Moonlight in 1946, a collection that featured some of his most celebrated short stories including The Run.

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13. 02

    Osamu Dazai's masterpiece No Longer Human sold over 4 million copies in Japan and became one of the most widely read novels in Japanese literature.

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14. 01

    In 1948, Osamu Dazai survived a double suicide attempt with his lover Yuki Tsushima, which he later fictionalized in his novel No Longer Human.

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