Uchida was born inOkayama to a family of sake brewers whose business later went bankrupt. His real name isEizo Uchida (内田 榮造Uchida Eizō). He became a pupil ofNatsume Sōseki in 1911. He graduated fromTokyo University (Tokyo Imperial University) in 1914. He became professor of German atImperial Japanese Army Academy in 1916. He later taught atHosei University (Tokyo). He is the main subject ofAkira Kurosawa's last film,Madadayo (まあだだよ). His novel,Disk of Sarasate (サラサーテの盤,Sarasāte no ban) is the inspiration for the film,Zigeunerweisen. He is the author of more than fifteen volumes of writings includingI am a Cat: The Fake Version (贋作吾輩は猫である,Gansaku wagahai ha neko de aru), andGates Close at Dusk (日没閉門,Nichibotsu heimon). In Japan he is well known as a passionaterailfan and he made some works on railway travel.[2] Though a great literary figure in Japan, he currently only has one book translated into English:Realm of the Dead (冥途Meido). That volume also includes the collectionTriumphal Entry intoRyojun (Ryojun Nyujōshiki (旅順入城式)). "Small Round Things", a translated excerpt from another collection,Jottings from the Goblins' Garden (Hyakkien Zuihitsu (百鬼園随筆)), appeared in the JAL inflight magazineSkyward in January 2006. He had two sons and three daughters.
^His name Hyakken is normally written 百閒, the latter character (which cannot be displayed by some computers) being a variant of 間 with 月 rather than 日 inside 門.
