Shogo Oketani was born in Shinagawa Tokyo, Japan in 1958. His great-grandmother was a geisha, and his great-grandfather was a gambler. He grew up in a house of books and tea--his father is a literary critic and his mother was a tea ceremony master.After graduating from Keio University with a degree in Philosophy and Literature, Oketani spent a decade as journalist for Japan's semiconductor industry newspaper. He later moved to Northern California and translated for Lucasfilm, Applied Materials, Hitachi, Apple, and others. While that helped pay the rent, his real love was writing fiction and literary translation. He is translator of America & Other Poems by Ayukawa Nobuo, winner of the 2003 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature from Columbia University's Donald Keene Center. Oketani is the author of the middle grade novel J-Boys, Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965. He often writes with his wife, author Leza Lowitz. Together they co- authored a book on kanji (Designing with Kanji: For Surface, Skin and Spirit) to prevent awkward tattoo moments. They also co-wrote Jet Black and the Ninja Wind, winner of the APALA Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature. When he's not writing, spinning kicks with his ninja dogs, or cooking, Oketani--a black belt in Karate and a long-term practitioner of Shaolinquan, Kendo and Judo-- teaches self-defence workshops.