Kate James, or Mrs. T. H. James, was Hasegawa’s most prolific fairy tale author. Born in 1845 to Episcopalian clergyman Arthur Ranken and his wife Anne, Kate was the youngest of five daughters. James spent some time in Constantinople (Istanbul) as a governess, where she met her husband, Thomas Henry James, then a sub-lieutenant of the Royal Navy. The couple arrived in Japan in 1876 as Thomas was appointed a position at the Tsukiji Naval Academy, which led to his job at Nippon Yūsen Kaisha, a Japanese merchant company. The couple were early friends of Basil Hall Chamberlain, who also worked at the Naval Academy. In 1882 Kate gave birth to the James’ first child, Grace, quickly followed by Arthur in 1883, and Elspeth in 1887. Kate started writing fairy tales for Hasegawa after the births of Grace and Arthur, starting with The Matsuyama Mirror (1886). According to her daughter Grace, Kate and Thomas could converse in colloquial Japanese, but were not “really proficient”. The family left Japan for England in 1895 when Thomas was assigned to the London NYK office. Some of Kate’s writings were published after she left Japan.