Keiji Ueshima was born in Tokyo in 1947. After receiving his doctorate in the anthropology of religion from the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, he went overseas to continue his research under Mircea Eliade at the University of Chicago. He has held numerous teaching positions over the course of his career, including visiting professor of anthropology at New York’s New School for Social Research, professor at Kansai University, professor at the University of Human Arts and Sciences, and professor at the Kyoto University of the Arts. He has published extensively, some notable examples of which are Otoko ga Onna ni Naru Byoki (Asahi Press, Shueisha), Bunretsu-byosha no Dance Party (Libro Port), Shukyo-gaku Kougi (Chikuma Shobo), Tenshi no Sasayaki (Jimbun Shoin), Seichi no Souzouryoku (Shueisha), Kairaku ha Waru ka (Asahi Shimbun Company), Guzen no Chikara (Shueisha), Kakeru Tamashi (Kodansha), Sekai Isan Kamigami no Nemuru ‘Kumano’ wo Aruku (Shueisha), and Shojogami (Shueisha). He has also translated a variety of books into Japanese, including Seimei no Ki (Heibonsha) and Media Sex (Libro Port, Shueisha).