Lafcadio Hearn (1850 - 1904) was one of the earliest English writers to publish stories and essays about supernatural Japan. He arrived in Japan in 1890 and fell in love with the country and its people. He married a samurai's daughter, became a Japanese citizen and a Buddhist, and changed his name to Koizumi Yakumo. He taught English literature at various schools and began publishing books about Japan in 1894, soon becoming known as the great interpreter of all things Japanese to the West. His fourteen books on Japan include Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, Kokoro, and A Japanese Miscellany.

Michael Dylan Foster is professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Davis. He is the author of The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore (2015), Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yokai (2009) and numerous articles on Japanese folklore, literature, and media.