Theft

By Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Kyoto is sinking into heat, sickness, and neglect. At a crossroads in the old capital, the one-eyed Tarō meets the old woman of Inokuma, and a story of thieves, ruined houses, and dangerous attachments begins to gather around him.

Tarō and his younger brother Jirō live on the edge of the law, bound to a band of outlaws led by the beautiful Shakin, whose presence unsettles everyone around her. What begins as desire soon draws the brothers toward jealousy, suspicion, and a raid that will test every fragile tie between them.

As moonlight falls over Rashōmon and the streets of a decaying city, Akutagawa lets violence, longing, and tenderness move through the same dark world. The story follows people who have learned to survive by theft and cruelty, yet who are still haunted by memory, kinship, and the possibility of grace.

First written in 1917, Theft is one of Ryunosuke Akutagawa's early historical stories. Set in Heian-period Kyoto, it shows the precision, severity, and psychological intensity that made Akutagawa one of the defining masters of modern Japanese short fiction.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H4G18LTK
• ISBN13: 9798180506450
• Release Date: June 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 5.0" x 8.0"