Born in 1976, Michael Staley received a BA in Japanese and an MA in East Asian Languages and Literatures from the University of Colorado at Boulder, both in 2000 as part of a dual-degree program. Between 2001 and 2011 he worked as an editor at Kodansha International, where he introduced a number of contemporary Japanese writers to the English-reading world, including Kakuta Mitsuyo, Matsuura Rieko, and Isaka Kōtarō. In addition to translating, he works as a freelance foreign-rights agent representing Japanese writers and publishers.