Gajin Fujita (American b. 1972) is an internationally acclaimed LA based artist who is known for his pop style that mixes references to traditional Japanese ukiyo-e woodcuts, contemporary manga, and other pop culture imagery on large-scale wood panel paintings. Made with spray paint, gold and silver leaf, and Sharpie Mean Streak markers, his lively images often combine graffiti lettering with Japanese motifs such as samurais, geishas, dragons, tigers, and fish. He received a BA from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles and an MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He has exhibited internationally, and his work is in the collections of the Hammer Museum at UCLA, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Blanton Museum of Art to name a few.

Dr. Susan Napier is an author, researcher, and professor of Japanese literature, films, and culture. Currently she is the Goldthwaite Professor of Rhetoric and Japanese at Tufts University in Massachusetts, she has also taught at Harvard University, The University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and the University of Texas in Austin. She has been featured on The M Dash and TEDxTufts. Napier is the author of 5 books including Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Experiencing Japanese Animation and Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art.