Analysis

A. Characters
Woodcutter- The woodcutter was the first person to find the murdered man's body. He found him 150 meters off the Yamashina stage road when he was off to do his daily routines. He claimed that the body was lying flat on its back, wearing a bluish silk kimono. The woodcutter claimed that he had not found any sword -  the suspected murder weapon of the crime scene. Although, he had found a rope and a comb.

High Police Commissioner- He was in charge to investigate the murder and pinpoint the real criminal through interviewing witnesses and suspects.

Buddhist Priest- The second man to be interviewed the High Police Commissioner. He claimed to have spotted the murdered man still alive on a road from Sekiyama to Yamashina. The Priest added that the man wasn't alone - there was a woman, that appeared to be the man's husband, accompanying him on horseback. From his estimations, the woman was said to be around four feet, five inches. He also said that the man was armed. A single sword, a bow, and a quiver holding twenty odd arrows.

Policeman- He brought forth Tajomaru, a man he arrested. The Policeman arrested Tajomaru for he claims that this man was the criminal in the investigation. He claimed that the suspect was holding  a bow and a quiver of odd arrows when he was found. The Policeman also added that he spotted a horse grazing by the roadside. In addition, he didn't fail to mention Tajomaru's passed crimes.

Old Woman- She is the mother of Takehiko's wife. She claimed that her son-in-law was a samurai in the town of Kukufu in the province of Wasaka and he was of twenty-six years of age. Her daughter Masago, a girl with a small, oval, dark-complected face with a mole at the corner of her left eye, was nineteen years old.

Tajomaru- The main suspect of the murder. He supposedly 'admitted' that he killed Takehiko in order to keep his wife for himself. Although, Tajomaru hadn't really planned on killing Takehiko, until Masago had asked for atleast one of the men to die. He claimed that they dueled to-the-death, but when he had emerged victorious, Masago was nowhere to be found. He suspected that she ran away while the two men were busy fighting for their lives.

Masago- The wife of Takehiko. She claimed that Tajomaru had been long gone when she supposedly picked herself up and stabbed her husband with her own sword. She was supposed to follow him afterward, but claimed that she must have fainted after the event had taken place.

Kanazawa no Takehiko- The man who was murdered- whose real killer was yet to be discovered. His side of the story was told through a medium. After he watched his wife get violated by a robber, he was speechless. He couldn't help but feel jealousy course through him and watch as the robber convince his wife to leave him. He then watched helplessly as his wife begged for his life to be taken in order to marry the robber. Unable to keep her tears to herself, Masago shrieked and dodged the robber's grasp as she ran away. The robber then cut the bonds of Takehiko and ran away with his weapons. Lying where he was, Takehiko found his wife's sword, reached for it, and stabbed himself. He didn't feel any pain, but was conscious enough to register someone drawing out the sword from his chest.

B. Setting
The story was set in Tokyo, 150 meters off the Yamashina stage. It was about noon.

C. Point-of-View
The story was told through various first-person point-of-views.

D. Plot
A man in Tokyo was murdered; witnesses and suspects were interviewed in order to find the real criminal. Two of whom admitted they killed the man, but none of which where truthful. In the end, the man's life was really taken by his own hand.

About The Author

Ryunosuke Akutagawa

Is a Japanese writer who was born on March 1, 1892 and died on July 24, 1927. He was also known as "The Father of Japanese short story" and commited suicide at the age of 35 by overdosing on barbital.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa was born in Tokyo, in the Kyobashi district. He was the third child and only son in his family and his parents were Toshizo Niihara (father) and Fuku Niihara (mother). In 1910, Akutagawa went to high school and he began writing when he entered Tokyo Imperial University in 1913- there he studied English literature. He Married Fumi Tsukamoto in 1918, whom he had three children with; Hiroshi Akutagawa, Takahashi Akutagawa, and Yasushi Akutagawa.

While he was still a student, Akutagawa published his first short story Rashomon in Teikoku Bungaku - a literary magazine. After receiving much praise from author Nutsume Soseki, he considered himself his diciple. Akutagawa then visited every thursday for Soseki's literary circle. This was also the time when he started writing haiku.

He then published Hana in 1916 in Shinshico. A series of his short stories  then followed. Some of these short stories were: A Life Devoted to Gesaku (1917), Gleanings from a Withered Field (1918), Hell Screen (1918), The Death of a Christian (1918), and The ball (1920).


Akutagawa was much opposed to naturalism. His stories Mandarin Oranges (1919) and Autumn (1920) have much more modern settings.


In 1921, Akutagawa spent four months in China to report for the Osaka Mainichi Shinbun. When he returned, he admitted that the trip was stressful and that he then suffered from various illnesses. Shortly after, he published In A Grove (1922).


Some of his final works were Kappa (1927), Spinning Gears (1927), A Fool's Life, and Literary, Much Too Literary (1927). Akutagawa tried committing suicide twice and succeeded the second time by an overdose of barbital, which was given to him by Saito Mokichi on July 24, 1927. He died at the age of 35.


Over his life, Akutagawa wrote  more than 150 stories. The classic film Rashomon, directed by Akira Kurosawa was based on his short story, In A Grove.