Emiko Miyashita (Japanese: 宮下惠美子; born September 6, 1954, Fukushima, Japan), haiku poet trained by Akito Arima, she is now a dōjin for the Shin haiku group as well as the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, councilor of the Haiku International Association, vice chair of the English-Speaking Union of Japan, and director of the JAL Foundation in charge of the World Children’s Haiku Contest. Author of two haiku collections, editor of a major anthology, and cotranslator of collections by Masajo Suzuki, Akito Arima, Yoshiko Yoshino, and Taneda Santōka, and others. Lives in Kawasaki.

Fay Aoyagi (Japanese: 青柳飛; born Aoyagi Fusae 青柳房江, 1956, Tokyo, Japan), immigrated to the United States in 1984. Professional interpreter and haiku poet writing in Japanese and English. She is a member of the Japanese haiku groups Ten’I and Aki as well as the Haiku Society of America (president 2016–2019) and the Haiku Poets of Northern California (coordinator of the HPNC rengay contest since 2003), among other organizations. Aoyagi is the author of three award-winning haiku collections, Chrysanthemum Love (2003), In Borrowed Shoes (2006), and Beyond the Reach of My Chopsticks (2011), and curates the blog Blue Willow Haiku World, presenting her translations of contemporary Japanese haiku. Aoyagi is co-compiler of the Haikupedia article “San Francisco International Rengay Contest.” She resides in San Francisco, California.

Hiroyuki Murakami (Japanese 村上博幸; born August 29, 1954, Mie, Japan), advisor to a Japanese music company and haiku poet/enthusiast. Dōjin of the Yukuharu Haiku Society in Japan to 2019 and of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society in America from 2022. Member of the Japanese Association of Haiku Poets and translator for HI—Haiku International. Translated and published haiku by poet Kazan Tanino on the aftermath of the Hiroshima atomic bomb with both the Yukuharu and the Yuki Teikei societies. Regular contributor of haiku in English to Geppo and YTHS members’ anthologies. Resides in Nishi-Tokyo, Tokyo.

Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶, born Kobayashi Nobuyuki, June 15, 1763, Kashiwabara, Shinano province [present-day Nagano prefecture], Japan; childhood name Kobayashi Yatarō; died January 5, 1828, Kashiwabara), Japanese haiku poet. Issa is revered in Japan and internationally as one of the greatest poets of the haikai tradition, ranked with Matsuo Bashō and Yosa Buson.

Mariko Kitakubo (Japanese: 北久保まりこ, born October 4, 1959, Hiroo, Tokyo, Japan), self-employed, business owner; tanka poet, and performer. Member of five Japan-based tanka organizations and one in the U.S.A. Has performed dynamic tanka readings on more than 218 occasions in 55 cities on 5 continents. Published 6 tanka collections, 3 of them bilingual. In 2020 Kitakubo and Deborah P Kolodji developed the tan-ku; after Kolodji’s death in 2024 Kitokibo founded the Tan-Ku Association; and became its president. Two of their tan-ku collaborations have been published. Kitakubo resides in Mitaka, Tokyo.