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"Rashōmon" (Template:Lang-ja) is a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa based on tales from the Konjaku Monogatarishū.

The story was first published in 1915 in Teikoku Bungaku. Despite its name, it provided no direct plot material for the Akira Kurosawa's film Rashomon (1950), which was based on Akutagawa's 1922 short story, "In a Grove". However, the framing sequence of the film reflects certain elements of the story, such as the theft of a kimono and the discussion of the moral ambiguity of thieving to survive.

Plot summary

The story recounts the encounter between a servant and an old woman in the dilapidated Rashōmon, where unclaimed corpses were sometimes dumped.

The man, a lowly servant recently fired, is contemplating whether to starve to death or to become a thief to survive in the barren times. When he goes upstairs - after noticing some firelight there, he encounters the woman, who is stealing hair from the dead bodies in the second floor. He is disgusted, and decides then that he would rather take the path of righteousness even if it meant starvation. He is furious with the woman.

But the old woman tells him that she steals hair to make wigs, so she can survive. In addition, the woman whose body she is currently robbing cheated people in her life by selling snake meat and claiming it was fish. The old woman says that this was not wrong because it allowed the woman to survive — and so in turn this entitles her to steal from the dead person, because if she doesn't, she too will starve. The man responds: "You won't blame me, then, for taking your clothes. That's what I have to do to keep from starving to death". He then brutally robs the woman of her robe and disappears into the night.

The book itself also plays a part in the 1999 movie Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai directed by Jim Jarmusch.

Further reading

• Murray, Giles (2003). Breaking into Japanese literature. Kodansha. ISBN 4-7700-2899-7. A bilingual book with "In a Grove" and "Rashōmon"

External links

• "Rashōmon" Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead.
• Rashōmon at Project Gutenberg Template:Ja
• "Rashōmon", better-known later version, available freely at Aozora Bunko Template:Ja
• Free MP3s of the story, read by a professional Japanese actress Template:Ja

• 1915 short stories
• Short stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa