Ryunosuke Akutagawa's Hell Screen
The Manga Edition
A compelling horror story about the lengths an artist will go to for the sake of his art!
Based on a traditional tale, the plot centres around the great artist, Yoshihide, who despite his talent is rude, lazy and avaricious. His one saving grace is his love for his beautiful daughter, Yuzuki.
Yoshihide is employed to create paintings for the Lord of Horikawa, who one day decides to employ Yuzuki as a lady-in-waiting in his household. Yoshihide is not happy about this, especially when he learns that Yuzuki has been the victim of a rape attempt. But Yuzuki refuses to name the perpetrator.
Yoshihide becomes furious. Having been commissioned by Horikawa to paint a folding hell screen depicting punishments in the afterlife, he tortures his apprentices so that he can depict human suffering more accurately. He then asks Horikawa to burn a beautiful woman, so this too, can be depicted realistically. Horikawa agrees, but it is Yoshihide's own daughter Yuzuki who ends up being burned to death. Yoshihide completes the hell screen painting, then kills himself.
As with much of Akutagawa's work, this ancient tale is reworked to emphasise contemporary dilemmas – in this case, artistic obsession, which Akutagawa himself is said to have possessed. This horrific yet compelling story continues to resonate with admirers of Akutagawa's work to this day.
**Recommended for readers ages 16+ due to mature themes and graphic content
Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) is regarded as the father of the Japanese short story and Japan's most prestigious literary prize, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him. He wrote over 150 short stories, the most famous of which are Rashomon, In a Grove, Kappa and Hell Screen. He was a great fan of Natsume Soseki, and it was Soseki's praise for his story The Nose that first brought Akutagawa to fame. In 1921, Akutagawa went to China as a newspaper reporter, a stressful experience that damaged his physical and mental health. Although he continued to write after his return to Japan, his health did not improve. He committed suicide at the age of thirty-five.
Mihiro (Manga Adaptor) is a is a Japan-based manga artist who specializes in the scary and the offbeat. More of Mihiro's work can be seen on Instagram: @mihiro5884
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