Erik Jon Spigel is a professor of the Humanities specializing in Japan, who also has background in pure and applied mathematics. He has lived in the United States, Japan, and Canada working as a language teacher, a translator, an academic, and currently as a software engineer. He learned math in German, literary and cultural theory in French, Modern Japanese in English, Classical Japanese in Modern Japanese, and Classical Chinese in Classical Japanese. Rarely in his adult life has he been where he is in his own head. He currently lives in Toronto with his wife, Rui.

[UPDATED 2019-02-21]