Even in his youth, Akutagawa identified for himself the main theme of his creativity: the endless universe of the human soul and the secrets of human psychology. In the short time that fate gave him, he created about one and a half hundred short stories, essays, dozens of miniatures, scripts, and poems. The writer drew materials for many of his works from ancient chronicles, medieval anecdotes and feudal epics. Akutagawa emphasized that human psychology changes little over the centuries, and with subtle taste, genuine humor and a bright literary gift he created his immortal short stories.