YASUSHI INOUE (1907-1991) worked as a journalist and literary editor for many years, beginning his prolific career as an author in 1949 with the novel Bullfight. He went on to publish fifty novels and 150 short stories, both historical and contemporary, becoming one of Japan's major literary figures. In 1976 Inoue was presented with the Order of Culture, the highest honour granted for artistic merit in Japan.
MICHAEL EMMERICH (b. 1975) is a translator, editor and assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His many translations include works by Yasunari Kawabata, Genichiro Takahashi and Banana Yoshimoto.