Wm. Theodore de Bary is John Mitchell Mason Professor Emeritus and Provost Emeritus of Columbia University, and currently holds the title of Special Service Professor. He has written extensively on Confucianism in East Asia, and is editor of the first editions of Sources of Chinese Tradition and Sources of Japanese Tradition (both published by Columbia).

Donald Keene is Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature and University Professor Emeritus at Columbia. He is author, editor, or translator of more than thirty books of criticism and works of literature.

George Tanabe is Chair of the Department of Religion at the University of Hawaii. He is editor of Religions of Japan in Practice (Princeton Readings in Religions), co-editor of Practically Religious : Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan, and other books.

Paul Varley is Professor of History at the University of Hawaii and author of Japanese Culture (Hawaii), Warriors of Japan: As Portrayed in the War Tales, and other books.