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Johannes Gerhard Frederik van Overmeer Fischer began as a clerk at Dejima, the Dutch station in Japan, and he was later promoted to warehouse master. During the span of his stay in Japan, Fischer's access to Japanese culture was limited but he amassed a considerable collection of objects. This material was taken back to the Netherlands in 1829. In 1833, he published Bijdrage tot de kennis van het Japansche rijk (Contribution to the knowledge of the Japanese Empire).

George Macdonald Home Playfair was born on 22 August 1850 at Shahjehanpore, Bengal, India, and educated at Cheltenham College, Gloucestershire, and Trinity College, Dublin. He joined the China Consular Service in 1872 as a student interpreter. He continued in the Consular Service until his retirement in 1901, rising through the ranks to become Foochow Consul in 1899. He retired to England with his wife, Winifred May Playfair, and died there in 1917.