Osamu Dazai (1909-1948) was a novelist from Aomori. Since he was seventeen he wanted to become a novelist and started visiting the novelist Masuji Ibuse, becoming his private pupil. At the same time he entered the University of Tokyo where he majored in French Literature. His first published novel in 1935 Gyakko (Backset) was nominated for the first Akutagawa Prize. Although he had repeatedly attempted suicide since he was a high school student, he was married in 1938 and continued publishing outstanding short stories: among those are Fugaku Hyakkeu (Hundred Landscapes of Mt. Fuji), Kakekomi uttae (Run and Plead), Hashire Merosu (Run, Meros). During WWII, he kept up his writing with works such as Tsugaru (Tsugaru), and Otogi zoshi (Japanese Short Stories). In 1947, he published the long novel Shayo (Sunset)and became established as a popular novelist. He then finished Ningen shikkaku (Failed to be a Human) and Oto (Cherry). His life ended at the age of 39 when he committed suicide by drowning, together with his mistress, Tomie Yamazaki.