Naoshi Koriyama taught at Toyo University in Tokyo from 1961-1997 and is professor emeritus. He is the translator of Like Underground Water: The Poetry of Mid-Twentieth Century Japan and numerous other books of verse.

Bruce Allen is Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Seisen University in Tokyo. He has translated several of the works of Japanese writer Ishimure Michiko, including her novel Lake of Heaven.