This paper reviews the femme fatale motif in Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s literary works in terms of his reading experience and relationships with women. His works were the results of the literary transformation of his reading experience. One of the motifs created in this manner is the femme fatale motif. Shakin of Thieves, Masago of In a Grove, Yena of Carmen, and the female being of Kappa incarnated the image of a femme fatale found in the late 19th century literature of decadence. The aforementioned works also reflected his own experiences of love with Shigeko Hide. Shigeko’s character traits used to be reflected in fictional characters in his early works in a positive way. A character who resembled Shigeko was a desirable one. However, in his later works, as his personal relationship soured, any reflection of Shigeko’s personality was either portrayed negatively or with an abhorrent trait. Akutagawa produced his literary works in the era when the feminist ideal of the New Woman appeared. Shigeko personified the New Woman but Akutagawa later found he could not feel any romantic emotion for a woman who was more aggressive than a man. That was why in his personal life Akutagawa tried to end his relationship with Shigeko, to whom he no longer felt attracted. However, Shigeko refused to end their relationship. This experience added vitality to the image of a femme fatale in his works, which was later developed into something repulsive.