Osamu Dazai (1909-1948) was the pen name of Shuji Tsushima, the tenth of eleven children born to a wealthy landowner and politician in the far north of Japan. Dazai studied French literature at the University of Tokyo, but never received a degree. He first attracted attention in 1933 when magazines began to publish his work. Between 1930 and 1937, he made three suicide attempts, a subject he deals with in many of his short stories. Despite his troubled life and rebellious spirit, Dazai wrote in a simple and colloquial style, conveying his personal torments through literature. Dazai's life ended early in a double suicide with a married lover. <p/>James O'Brien is Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has published several translations of modern Japanese fiction and poetry. His most notable work is the short story collection Crackling Mountain and Other Stories by Osamu Dazai. He has published modern translations of poetry by Hagiwara Sakutaro, Kitahara Hakushu, Miyoshi Tatsuji, Takamura Kotaro, and Murano Shiro, and modern tanka by Yosano Akiko.
