“It’s me! It’s White!” | White — Ryūnosuke Akutagawa | Audiobook

On a spring afternoon, a dog named White sees a dog-killer stalking his friend from next door, and runs home in fear without warning him. But when he reaches the back garden, the young mistress and the young master of the house do not know him: his coat has turned black. This is “White” (「白」), a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892–1927), first published in the magazine 『女性改造』 in August 1923, a tale for young and old. Japan Lit Lantern reads it aloud in a new English translation, with separate AI voices for the dogs and the children. Viewer note: a work of fiction from 1923. It tells of dogs being caught and hurt, of a fire, and of hard times for a lost dog; the pictures show none of the violence. The original contains expressions of its time that may be considered inappropriate today. They are translated faithfully as part of the work. Japan Lit Lantern brings Japanese classics into English: newly translated, read aloud, and illustrated. Subscribe for the next story. Credits Original work: 「白」 (White) by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (芥川龍之介, 1892–1927), first published in 1923 English translation: Japan Lit Lantern (new translation) Narration: AI voices (Google Cloud Text-to-Speech) Illustrations: AI-generated with Krea 2 Turbo (LoRA “Aesthetic Quality Modifiers – Masterpiece” by motimalu) Thumbnail and opening image: created with OpenAI image generation Ending jingle made with Suno. Ending card made with ChatGPT. Japanese source text: Aozora Bunko, card no. 149 (file 149_15204.html, input: j.utiyama; proofreading: もりみつじゅんじ), based on 『芥川龍之介全集5』 (ちくま文庫, 筑摩書房, 1987) https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000879... Aozora Bunko card data is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Aozora Bunko is not affiliated with this video. English translation, narration and video © 2026 Japan Lit Lantern. No rights are claimed in Akutagawa’s original Japanese text. #JapaneseLiterature #JapaneseShortStory #Audiobook