Lady Nijo (1258-after 1307) was a Japanese noblewoman, poet, and author. She was raised in the court of Emperor Go-Fukakusa and became his concubine, before being expelled for her affairs with other men. She became a traveling Buddhist nun and eventually wrote a memoir, Towazugatari (A Tale Unasked). It survived in a single copy and remained hidden for years in the library of the imperial family household before being rediscovered in 1940.

Meredith McKinney (translator) is a translator of Japanese literature. She lived in Japan for twenty years and is Honorary Associate Professor at the Australian National University in Canberra. Her translations for Penguin Classics include The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon, Essays in Idleness and Hojoki by Kenko and Chomei, two novels by Natsume Soseki, and an anthology of classical Japanese travel writing, Travels with a Writing Brush.