Osamu DAZAI (太宰 治) was the pen name of Shūji Tsushima. Although his father wanted him to be a politician, he insisted on being an author. When he applied to the Tokyo University French Literature Department, he was 20 years old. For most of his lifetime, he was a drug addict, an alcoholic and a sufferer of tubercolosis. His last book Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human)(1948) is an authobiography. It documents his childhood, university years, and the time in which he acquires tuberculosis in detail.In 1948, he committed suicide with his mistress.Osamu Dazai is still one of the most popular authors in Japan.