Toyoshi Yoshihara was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1937. After graduating from Waseda University (B.A.), he immigrated to Canada in 1970. Besides running a successful heavy equipment marketing business (Komatsu Canada Ltd.), he promoted theatre exchanges between Canada and Japan, and has translated more than 50 Canadian plays into Japanese, and five Japanese plays into English.
He received the honorary doctorate (D.Litt.) from McMaster University, the honorary membership from the Playwrights Guild of Canada and the Order of Canada (Member), all in recognition of his successful efforts to introduce Canadian theatre to Japan. He is also a recipient of the Yuasa Yoshiko Award, a highly-coveted theatre prize in Japan given annually to the best foreign play translator. In 2000 he founded Maple Leaf Theatre in Tokyo to further popularize Canadian plays among Japanese audiences and theatre practitioners. Currently he lives in Tokyo with his wife, Ikuko.
