Kaori Haishi (Author)
Kaori Haishi is an essayist and saké journalist, and chairwoman of the Japan Saké Association. She was born in Nerima in Tokyo in 1966, and graduated from the Department of German Language and Literature, Nihon University College of Humanities and Sciences. She then worked as a radio reporter and a journalist for a weekly women's magazine. She visits saké breweries and shochu and Awamori makers all over Japan to write articles for various media. She also gives talks, seminars, and recipe suggestions for pairing saké and food. She set up the Japan Saké Association in 2015, training saké experts to international standards, and running saké events at various locations in Japan.

Dr Shinichi Asabe (Author)
Shinichi Asabe is a former associate professor at the Department of Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine, Jichi Medical University Saitama Medical Center. After he graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tokyo in 1990, he worked at the University of Tokyo Hospital, and Department of Gastroenterology at Toranomon Hospital. He is mainly involved in viral hepatitis studies at the National Cancer Center Japan, and after work at the Jichi Medical University Hospital, he studied the immunology of hepatitis at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, US. Back in Japan in 2010, he started to work at the Department of Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine, Jichi Medical University Saitama Medical Center. Currently he is based at AbbVie GK. He specialises in hepatology and virology, and loves wine, saké and beer.