Alexander Mesheryakov was born in 1951 and studied at Moscow State University, where he received a PhD in Japanese literature. He is the president of the Russian Association of Japanologists and also teaches Japanese literature and history as a university professor. He has translated and published numerous historical pieces, classics, works of contemporary literature, and essays, including The Murasaki Shikibu Diary, Kazushi Hosaka's Joy of Life, and Yoko Tawada's Suspect on the Night Train.