Darron Contryman was born and raised in Missouri but went to jr. and sr. high school in Kentucky. He graduated from Rhodes College in Memphis where he majored in International Studies. During college he studied abroad at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. He currently teaches and translates in Tokyo, where he has lived and worked for over twenty-five years. He has also run businesses and traveled extensively throughout Asia and other places. His interests are art, philosophy, languages, economics and history, as well as preventive medicine and health.