Research on the novels of the Taisho period, the phenomenon of play (asobi) in Japanese culture, the doll and the Doppelgänger (double), as well as laughter and Shinto ritual. Analysed Japanese novels and Japanese (kokugo) textbooks used in primary schools in Japan. Has lectured on the Japanese educational system. Now teach about nature and environmental awareness, and environmental problems and policies in Japan. Currently, her focus is on the intersections between visual culture and literary works.

Vice President and Professor of School of Agriculture, Meiji University.

Originally student of economic and social history. Scholar of literature. Look at the theatre not only from literary and aesthetic points of view, but also from a business perspective and the social structures surrounding theatres. Using this method he compared Berlin to Edo, enabling him to discover new dimensions of those cities, providing new directions in the study of cultural history or civilisation.

Deputy Mayor, Taito City.

Professor of Japanese Studies, Director of the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Vienna. Pioneering in the area of fieldwork. Comparative area studies of Vienna and Tokyo. His interest in Asakusa originated in his 20-year-old study of Japanese leisure. The history of Japanese entertainment is presently his area of interest.

Professor, Munich University. Academic interest is in the culture of alleyways (roji). Extensive research into Japanese author Nagai Kafu. Research to connect German philosopher Walter Benjamin to Nagai Kafu.

Started out in cultural anthropology, but later studied Japanese language, culture and history. Her area of research is antiquaries (kokogaku) in the late Edo period.

Professor, Faculty of Commerce, Meiji University / Member of the Executive Committee on the International Asakusa Research Project. Representative for the Research Institute for Management Quality Science, Meiji University, which has been adopted as a Centre of Excellence at Meiji University by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and conducts open research activities. Professor Yamashita has an interest in the problems we face in revitalising Asakusa for the future, and ways to counter them.

Mayor of Taito Ward.