"He read Anatole France, placing skepticism fragrant with the scent of roses under his head. He did not notice that there was a centaur in this pillow." "Dark blue willows, dark blue bridge, dark blue shacks, dark blue water, dark blue fishermen, dark blue reeds and miscanthus... And all this sank to the bottom of almost black blue, and here you, three white herons, soar up..." "I sympathize with any spirit of protest in art, even if it is... directed against me." These three quotes from the writing of Akutagawa Ryunosuke (1892-1927) are taken almost at random - chosen in the same way as one would guess from a book of poetry. But, probably, this is enough to understand why translations of his stories opened a new era in Russia - the era of biased and inspired reading of modern Japanese prose...