Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 when Schodt was fifteen. They left in 1967, but Schodt remained to graduate fromAmerican School in Japan in Tokyo in 1968. After entering theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), in 1970, Schodt returned to Japan and studied Japanese intensively atInternational Christian University (ICU) for a year and half. He graduated from UCSB in 1972, and after a briefbohemian stint at a variety of jobs and traveling, he became a tour guide in Los Angeles for Japanese tourists, also escorting them to Canada and Mexico. After trying to interpret for a group once at Sunkist, he realized that he could become an interpreter, but needed further training. In 1975, he was awarded a scholarship fromJapan's Ministry of Education, to return to ICU and study translation and interpreting. After finishing his studies at ICU in 1977, he began working in the translation department of Simul International, in Tokyo. In mid-1978, he returned to the United States, and since then has worked in San Francisco as a freelance writer, translator, and interpreter.
While working in Tokyo in 1977, he joined with several university friends in contactingTezuka Productions. They sought permission to translate thePhoenix comic into English.[1]
Manga! Manga! won a prize at theManga Oscar Awards in 1983. Furthermore, in 2000 Schodt was awarded theAsahi Shimbun'sTezuka Osamu Cultural Prize "Special Prize" for his outstanding contribution to the appreciation of manga worldwide.[2]
2016 –Ranald MacDonald Award for Lifetime Achievement, especially for work, Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan.
2024 - Inducted into the American Manga Awards Publishing Hall of Fame - Anime NYC.[9]
2025 -Awarded trophy as translator-member of Studio Proteus, which was inducted into the American Manga Awards Publishing Hall of Fame, at Anime NYC.[10]
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