Sengaku Mayeda is a Japanese writer, philosopher and teacher, known for his writings on Indian philosophy and Adi Shankara. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2014, by bestowing on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his services to the fields of literature and education. He is the fourth Japanese to be honoured with Padma Shri, after Taro Nakayama, Shoji Shiba and Prof. Noboru Karashima. He is also a recipient of the Third Order of Merit with the Middle Cordon of the Rising Sun of the Government of Japan, which he received in 2002. Sengaku Mayeda was born on 1 April 1931 at Nagoya, in the prefecture of Aichi, in Japan. He did his pre graduate studies at the College of General Education, in Tokyo and graduated with BA from the Department of Indian Philosophy and Buddhist Studies, Faculty of Letters, University of Tokyo, in 1955. He continued his post graduate studies at the University of Tokyo and secured his MA from the Department of Indian Philosophy, Division of Humanities, in 1957.

Mayeda started his teaching career in 1964, joining the University of Pennsylvania as the Assistant Professor of Indian Philosophy. In 1968, he returned to Japan and to research as the Director of the Research Division of Suzuki Research Foundation in Tokyo where he worked till 1973. The next assignment was again at teaching, as the Assistant Professor of Indian Philosophy at University of Tokyo, and he retired as the Professor in 1991. Sengaku Mayeda has held many important posts related to Philosophy and Indo Japanese relations. He has been a Director of the Indo-Japanese Association since 1983, a post he still holds. He was the President of the Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies for two terms, first from 1991 to 1995 and then from 1998 till 2002. He was the Chairman of the Graduate School of Human and Cultural Studies at the Musashino Women's University from 1999 to 2001. He has also served as a member of the Steering Committee of Japan-India Friendship Year of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also worked as a member of the Steering Committee of the Federation Internationale des Societies Philosophie during the period from 2003 to 2008.