WCharlotte Burgis DeForest was born on February 23, 1879 in Osaka, Japan, to missionary parents, Elizabeth Starr and John Hyde DeForest. After attending boarding school in Germany and graduating from high school in Massachusetts, DeForest attended Smith College in 1897, obtaining her bachelor's degree in 1901. In 1903, DeForest volunteered for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and returned to Japan as a missionary. From 1904 to 1907, DeForest traveled to various schools, including Kobe College, where she both taught English and completed a language study. After teaching English, Bible and music studies there, DeForest became President of Kobe College in 1915. In 1920, DeForest returned stateside to study at the University of Chicago and obtained an honorary L.H.D. from Smith College. From 1921 until the beginning of World War II in 1940 when she resigned her title as President of Kobe College, DeForest traveled back and forth from Japan and the United States. During World War II, DeForest returned to the United States, where she volunteered at the Boston Immigration Station to help Japanese detainees, taught a nine-month course in Japanese at Pomona College and eventually began working at the Manzanar Relocation Center in Manzanar, California. After the end of World War II, DeForest returned once more to Kobe College as a teacher, until leaving Japan in 1950, when she received the Fourth Class of the Order of the Sacred Treasure. In 1951, DeForest retired in Claremont, California until her death in 1973.
WFukuzawa Yukichi was a Japanese author, writer, teacher, translator, entrepreneur, journalist, and leader who founded Keio University, Jiji-Shinpō and the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases.
WKosuke Gomi was the pen-name of Yasusuke Gomi, a Japanese novelist active during the Shōwa period of Japan. He is primarily known for his popular fiction on historical themes.
WIhara Saikaku was a Japanese poet and creator of the "floating world" genre of Japanese prose (ukiyo-zōshi).
WTakeshi Kaikō was a prominent post-World War II Japanese novelist, short-story writer, essayist, literary critic, and television documentary writer. He was distinguished by his knowledge, intellect, sense of humor and conversational skills, and although his style has been criticized as wordy and obtuse, he was one of the more popular Japanese writers in the late Shōwa period.
WMotojirō Kajii was a Japanese author in the early Shōwa period known for his poetic short stories. Kajii left behind masterpieces such as Remon , "Shiro no aru machi nite" . Fuyu no hi and Sakura no ki no shita ni wa . His poetic works were praised by fellow writers including Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima. Today his works are admired for their finely tuned self-observation and descriptive power.
WYasunari Kawabata was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly-shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal and are still widely read.
WMieko Kawakami is a Japanese writer and poet from Osaka. Her work has won prestigious Japanese literary awards in several genres, including the 138th Akutagawa Prize for her novella Chichi to ran (乳と卵), the 2013 Tanizaki Prize for her short story collection Ai no yume to ka (愛の夢とか), and the 2008 Nakahara Chūya Prize for Contemporary Poetry for Sentan de, sasuwa sasareruwa soraeewa.
WTatsuji Miyoshi was a Japanese poet, literary critic, and literary editor active during the Shōwa period of Japan. He is known for his lengthy free verse poetry, which often portray loneliness and isolation as part of contemporary life, but which are written in a complex, highly literary style reminiscent of classical Japanese poetry.
WNamiki Gohei I was a Kabuki actor and playwright active in Kyoto, Edo and Osaka. He wrote over 100 plays, mostly in the genres of jidai-mono (historical) and sewa-mono.
WNamiki Sōsuke, also known as Namiki Senryū, was a prominent Japanese playwright who wrote for both kabuki and bunraku. He produced around 47 bunraku plays, nearly 40 of them composed for jōruri, a particular form of musical narrative, and 10 kabuki plays. He is considered the second greatest Japanese playwright after Chikamatsu Monzaemon.
WSanjugo Naoki was the pen-name of a novelist in Taishō and Shōwa period Japan. His real name was Sōichi Uemura .
WOda Makoto was a Japanese novelist, peace activist, academic and Time Asian Hero.
WSakunosuke Oda was a Japanese writer. He is often grouped together with Osamu Dazai and Ango Sakaguchi as the Buraiha. Literally meaning ruffian or hoodlum faction, this label was not a matter of a stylistic school but one bestowed upon them by conservative critics disparaging the authors' attitudes and subject matter.
WChishō Takaoka was a geisha in Shinbashi who became a Buddhist nun later in life. Her stage name was Chiyoha (千代葉) or Teruha (照葉), while her real name was Tatsuko Takaoka (高岡たつ子). She became famous for her radiant beauty, and for chopping off one of her fingers for her lover. She was a popular model featured in postcards, and was known internationally as the "Nine-Fingered Geisha". She also inspired Jakucho Setouchi's novel, Jotoku.
WYosa Buson or Yosa no Buson was a Japanese poet and painter of the Edo period. Along with Matsuo Bashō and Kobayashi Issa, Buson is considered among the greatest poets of the Edo Period.