Sales of books by Osamu Dazai, who died by suicide in 1948 at age 38, have skyrocketed in recent years. His best-known novel, No Longer Human (1948), has sold more than 75,000 copies in the UK alone. This semi-autobiographical account of alienation was Dazai's last completed work before his death.
Dazai's background and early struggles
Born in 1909 in northern Japan to a wealthy family, Dazai was a brilliant student but showed early signs of mental illness, attempting suicide twice by age 21. He lived what translator Donald Keene called a “life of wild dissipation,” including morphine addiction and numerous relationships.
New Penguin Classics edition
Until recently, Dazai's work was available only in imported US editions from New Directions. This month, Penguin Classics publishes the first UK edition in nearly 70 years: a collection of short stories from a female perspective titled Schoolgirl, translated by Polly Barton. Barton notes that in Japan, Dazai is considered “one of the big three, along with Yukio Mishima and Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, that everyone talks about as the fathers of modern Japanese literature.”
Appeal to young readers
Barton adds that Dazai has been discovered by a new generation, particularly young men—a demographic often said to be not reading books. This is surprising given Dazai's bleak, nihilistic themes. No Longer Human features a narrator who declares his incompatibility with humanity, describing the world as “a place of bottomless horror.” The narrator of Schoolgirl similarly states, “the problem is that I’m corrupt. I’m a bad girl.”
Despite the pessimism, Barton says Dazai “leans into [the self-loathing] with a kind of exuberance,” combining unashamed emotion with intelligence. Tynan Kogane, editor-in-chief at New Directions, agrees: “I think a lot of young readers see themselves in Dazai’s works. There’s a lot of nihilism and despair in Dazai’s work, and it’s unfortunate for our country at the moment, but there’s a lot of nihilism and despair [here too]. The unhappy man in postwar Japan really resonates with a lot of readers.”
Role of anime and online communities
Dazai's popularity among younger readers has spread online via Reddit and TikTok, where commenters praise him as “the only person that understands me.” His renaissance also stems from the 2016 Japanese anime TV series Bungo Stray Dogs, which features fictionalized versions of real writers, including a “swashbuckling” Osamu Dazai. Chris Wait, an editor at New Directions, says the series boosted book sales. After its US release in 2018, sales grew dramatically. “At the height of it, the annual figure was something like 150,000 copies, which for us is pretty rare,” Wait adds. Sales of No Longer Human even funded a new office floor for New Directions.
Beyond despair: humor and style
Dazai's works offer more than despair. Novellas like The Flowers of Buffoonery (1935) and The Beggar Student (1940) are playful and self-mocking. The narrator of The Beggar Student asks, “Why do I bother writing novels? Am I lured by the glory of literary celebrity? Or do I simply want to write bestsellers and cash huge cheques? Let me spare you the theatrics. I want both. So bad it hurts.” Schoolgirl, with its female viewpoints, was based on the diary of a real 19-year-old schoolgirl sent to Dazai by post.
Legacy and impact
Dazai's most famous book remains linked to his own life and death. In No Longer Human, the narrator survives a suicide pact in which his girlfriend dies. Soon after finishing the book, Dazai died by suicide with his lover Tomie Yamazaki. Their bodies were recovered six days later, on what would have been his 39th birthday. His work, however, lives on, more popular than ever.
