A Novel Landscape in the Wake of Pandemic ：The Establishment of the International Akutagawa Ryunosuke Society (ISAS), and Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s Transformation

Humanity has suffered the onslaught of several pandemics in the past, which have left many painful scars in human history. Likewise, the Covid pandemic has brought about various changes in the world. The ‘division’ of ‘meeting’ produces new results. The establishment of the International Akutagawa Ryunosuke Association (ISAS), and the changed perspective of Akutagawa Ryunosuke during a previous pandemic, are examples of this.100 years ago, Akutagawa Ryunosuke suffered from Spanish Flu, and lost his family to the disease while his friends also became ill. In the midst of the pandemic that is sweeping the world today, we can gain a new perspective by focusing on the pandemic 100 years ago and by examining Akutagawa’s reaction to it. His view on his own life and on his family deepened after the experience of that pandemic.Even from a distance we can sense the pain caused by the epidemic 100 years ago, in this way drawing closer to the hidden facts of that time. This reveals to us that, now that the end of the current pandemic is starting to look like a forlorn prospect, a novel landscape may also form before our eyes.