author
Sakae Shioya
b. 1873
Best known for sharing Japanese childhood and everyday life with English-language readers, this early 20th-century writer and translator helped open a window between cultures. His work blends memoir, observation, and a clear wish to make Japan feel vivid and familiar.
1 Audiobook
When I Was a Boy in Japan
by Sakae Shioya
About the author
Born in 1873, Sakae Shioya was a Japanese author and translator whose writing introduced English-language readers to Japanese life and literature. He is especially remembered for When I Was a Boy in Japan, a memoir-like book that presents family life, customs, and childhood experiences in Japan with warmth and simplicity.
Sources consulted for this overview describe him as having studied at Tokyo’s First Imperial College before coming to the United States in 1901. He later earned an M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1903 and a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1906, both in English.
Shioya also translated works by contemporary Japanese writers, including Rohan Koda and Kenjiro Tokutomi. That mix of personal storytelling and literary translation makes him an appealing figure for readers interested in cultural exchange, early modern Japan, and the history of Japanese writing in English.