Kappa - BookWyrm

English language

Published 2004

ISBN:: 978-0-7206-1200-4

No rating (1 review)

Kappa (Japanese: 河童, Hepburn: Kappa) is a 1927 novella written by the Japanese author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. The story is narrated by a psychiatric patient who claims to have travelled to the land of the kappa, a creature from Japanese folklore. Critical opinion has often been divided between those who regard it as a biting satire of Taishō Japan and those who see it as expression of Akutagawa's private agony.

2 editions

Jim Brown reviewed Kappa by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

An outcast escapes to a world that might make more sense

No rating

A patient in an asylum recounts his travels to the world of the Kappas, reptile-like creates from Japanese folklore. The patient meets poets, musicians, and many others, exploring the culture of Kappas. The social commentary here is interesting and makes me want to learn a bit more about 1920s Japan.

At one point, we learn that Kappas do not have the death penalty. They only need to name the crime and call out the perpetrator.

"And that's enough to make a Kappa die?" "Absolutely. We Kappas have much more sensitive nervous systems than you do."