Chuya Nakahara (1907-1937) was the coddled eldest son of an army physician in western Honshu. When he was eight, the death of his brother Tsuguro spurred him to begin writing poetry. In Kyoto he encountered the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud and other French Symbolists, which he translated, and which profoundly influenced his own poetry. He soon moved to Tokyo and became active in literary circles. His first poetry collection, Goat Songs was published in 1932 but sold only fifty copies. His second collection, Songs of Bygone Days, was published in 1938, shortly after his death at age thirty from tuberculosis. His poems gained great acclaim after the war and were later published in a six-volume collection. Christian Nagle, PhD, is an award-winning poet, playwright, translator and musician.

His work has appeared in Esquire, The Paris Review, The Kenyon Review and many other leading publications. Raised in Europe, he has lived for twenty years in Japan, translating the poetry of Nakahara Chuya and working as co-director of The Brothers Murasaki independent film group. Their forthcoming works include The Chuya Suite, a collection of Nakahara's poems dramatized by Japanese-American actress Rina Salmon. He divides his time between Alexandria, Virginia, and Tokyo. Mikiro Sasaki is a poet and leading scholar of Chuya Nakahara. He is the editor of Chuya's collected works and the author of Chuya Nakahara: Silent Music, as well as over a dozen collections of poetry and essays.