Gian Carlo Calza is an academic researching on Asian cultures and arts and their interplay with the West. He is a leading authority in Japanese art and aesthetics, author of many books, and curator of many exhibitions in the field.

He was a professor of Asian Art History at Ca' Foscari University of Venice and director of the International Hokusai Research Centre in Milan. Among the most important of his books are: Tanaka Ikko, Hokusai, Ukiyo-e, and Poem of the Pillow and Other Stories, all of which were published in English by Phaidon.