Hiroki Danshita was born in Osaka, Japan. After graduating from a Japanese high school, he worked full-time for two years and applied at Brigham Young University, Hawaii. He earned his BA in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and minored in Music and (EIL) English as an International Language. Following college and getting married, he worked with special needs students for several years before obtaining his masters degree in Education from St. Martin’s University. He now teaches Japanese full-time at Issaquah High School and part-time at Bellevue College. In 2014, he received the Outstanding Education Award from the Issaquah Schools Foundation. He and his wife have three children, and he enjoys playing the piano and organ, traveling, hiking, and swimming.