Yuyupanchi studied comic and manga art at Osaka College of Art and Design. She's received numerous illustration awards, including a "Kitaisho" (honorable mention) from Kodansha, one of the largest publishers of monthy manga and comics in Japan, with additional manga awards from Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha.

Yei Theodora Ozaki (1871-1932) was a popular translator of Japanese short stories and fairy tales. She was raised in England by her mother, then moved to Japan to live with her father. Her translation work helped introduce ancient Japanese lore to a broader audience of readers.

Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) was a writer, translator, and teacher who was born in the Ionian islands and moved to America as a teenager. He lived in Japan for the last fourteen years of his life, where his translations of Japanese legends and ghost stories turned him into the beloved Japanese cultural icon Koizumi Yakumo.