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河童

Kappa

by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

An asylum patient tells of his stay in the land of the kappa.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Advanced3,368 characters · ≈ 13 minSource: 青空文库

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Sample: three-line reading

Each word has its meaning in this sentence underneath, and each sentence has a full translation. Read the original and glance down only when you need to.

序preface
Preface
これはthis (topic marker)あるa certain精神病院mental hospitalの's / of患者patient第二十三号Number Twenty-Threeが(subject marker)だれにでもto anyoneしゃべるtells / talks話storyであるis
This is a story that a patient in a certain mental hospital—Number Twenty-Three—tells to anyone.
彼はhe (topic)もうalready / now三十thirtyを越しているhas passed / is pastであろうprobably is
He is probably over thirty now.
がbut一見したところはat first glanceいかにもindeed / truly若々しいyouthful狂人madmanであるis
But at first look he is a very young-looking madman.

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About the book

Kappa is a novella by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, published in 1927. The story is narrated by psychiatric patient No. 23, who recounts his experiences after wandering into the land of the kappa, a creature from Japanese folklore. It is known as a biting satire of the society of its time, and is considered one of Akutagawa's late masterpieces.

Cultural notes (selection)

Background a translation can’t carry: social roles, history and allusions. While reading, tap “Note” at the end of a sentence to see them all.

リュック・サック Customs

A loanword meaning backpack (from the German Rucksack).

河童 Allusion

A legendary creature from Japanese folklore: child-sized, with a water-filled dish on its head, a pointed mouth, a shell on its back, and webbed fingers. It lives in rivers and ponds, is immensely strong, and loves sumo wrestling. In the text, the "匹" of "一匹" is a Japanese counter word.

河童橋 Allusion

A famous wooden suspension bridge over the Azusa River in Kamikōchi, located beside the hot-spring inn district. It is a local landmark offering distant views of Mount Hotaka. The novel's protagonist thinks of this bridge's name just before falling, which fits the story's setting.

About the author

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1 March 1892 – 24 July 1927), also known by his art name Chōkōdō Shujin, was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period who is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story". He died by suicide at the age of 35 through an overdose of barbital, and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him.

Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: 河童 (小説) (CC BY-SA)

How the glosses are made

Word glosses and sentence translations are generated in context by AI models (DeepSeek and Zhipu GLM), and every word is checked to have a gloss. AI can make mistakes; you can report problems from the book page.

FAQ

Is this the original text?

Yes. The library holds the opening section of the public-domain original, taken from 青空文库.

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What level is it?

This one is marked “Advanced”. Every word is glossed, so you can keep reading even with a small vocabulary.

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