Michael Yamashita is a renowned visual storyteller who has spent 40 years photographing for National Geographic across six continents, becoming the first person of color to be a regular contributor. Based in New York and New Jersey, Yamashita is also a volunteer firefighter and an award-winning photographer, teacher, and lecturer. His work has been exhibited globally, and he is recognized as a top photography influencer with over 1.7 million Instagram followers. Yamashita’s commercial clients include major brands like Sony and Visa, and he has published 16 books on topics such as Marco Polo and the Silk Road. He continues to produce documentaries and is planning new exhibitions and books focused on his experiences in China and Japan.

Shunran Yamaoki was born in 1948 in Kochi Prefecture, Japan. From the first through fifth grade of elementary school, she studied calligraphy almost every day after school. Guided by the principles that “calligraphy is the art of line” and that “the writing reflects the person,” her artistic style avoids excessive deformation and strives to maintain dignity and refinement. In 2012, she exhibited at the 34th Exhibition for the Export of Japanese Fine Art in Belgium (ArtGent 2012) in Ghent. She has also received numerous awards at the Sankei International Calligraphy Exhibition in Japan and currently serves as a juror for the same exhibition.

Matsuo Basho (1644–1694) is widely regarded as the greatest master of haiku, the unique short-form poetry that originated in Japan. Basho’s early work was a variation of a form of collaborative linked verse poetry called haikai no renga. In the wake of his studies of Zen Buddhism, his work became increasingly spare and evocative, evolving into the distinctive 17-syllable poetry that is now known as haiku. A wanderer at heart, Basho traveled by foot throughout Japan and wrote extensively about nature—its beauty and impermanence—with simple yet profound emotion and insight. His most celebrated work, Oku no Hosomichi (“The Narrow Road to the Deep North”), remains a classic of travel writing and haiku, and his influence has extended throughout the world into modern literature and poetry.