Nogami Yaeko (1885-1985) was the author or translator of fifty-seven volumes of published works. Among her best-known novels are Meiro (The Labyrinth, 1956), Hideyoshi to Rikyu (Hideyoshi and Rikyu, 1963), and Mori (The Wood, 1986).

Mariko Nishi LaFleur trained and taught at the Urasenke tea school headquarters in Kyoto for many years, and has taught tea ceremony and Japanese culture and language in Japan and the United States for more than thirty-five years.

Morgan Beard has an advanced teaching certification (jun-kyoju) from the Urasenke tea school and has taught tea culture throughout the Philadelphia area for more than twenty years. She currently serves as the chief of administration for the Philadelphia chapter of the Urasenke Tankokai Association.