Nanami Kamon is a novelist, essayist, and nonfiction writer. Her works often derive from both her own experiences and her knowledge of Japanese folklore, feng shui, and the supernatural. Kamon made her debut in 1992 with the yokai fantasy novel Hitomaru Commands Them Vanquished. Her novels include The Mountain, Room 203, At Toribeno, and Mebukuro, and The Beast with Black Claws, the first two of which were adapted for film. She has also written several books on Japanese witchcraft and was the sorcery advisor for the film Onmyoji Zero.
Kalau Almony is a translator based in Kawasaki, Japan. His translations include the work of Fuminori Nakamura, Tahi Saihate, Shinya Tanaka, and Jose Ando. Born and raised in Kailua, Hawai'i, he completed his BA in comparative literature at Brown University and MA in East Asian languages and literatures at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. He is a 2025 National Endowment for the Arts translation fellow.