Suzuka was born in Beppu and grew up in Kumamoto, both in Kyushu. Her family moved to Belmont, Massachusetts when she was eight for her father's research, and they eventually moved back to Tokyo together. Suzuka later came to New York alone for Columbia, and has been thereabouts since. She has been playing violin since before she can remember. No matter where she has lived, Yufuin has always held a special place in her heart.

Sam grew up in South Jersey, the son of a father from Shanghai and a mother from Keelung, Taiwan. Every summer, his grandparents would take the family to Japan after they arrived in Taiwan — his grandfather spoke Japanese and wanted the boys to learn. Although they only ended up with American-accented Chinese and no Japanese, they cultivated an unspoken appreciation for the complex cultural ties between the two nations. Sam has also been playing violin since before he can remember, and traveled to New York around the same time for Columbia.

We met freshman year at Columbia in Manhattan in orchestra. Suzuka was convinced she recognized Sam from the New England Conservatory in Boston. Sam had to assure her multiple times, that he'd never stepped foot in NEC and that he was definitely not who she was thinking of.

Sam would ask Suzuka to borrow a pencil every week ("I had one in my violin case but liked asking anyway"). We parted ways for a while, but in junior year, we ended up sitting next to each other in an organic chemistry class in Havemeyer Hall.

We started dating April 5th, 2019 when Sam asked to make it official at the Metropolitan Museum American Wing, next to The Struggle of the Two Natures in Man — Suzuka was drawn to the batlike creature that is part of it.