Sakutaro Mogi (born 1970) is a Japanese translator of English-language nonfiction on military affairs, international events, and the aviation industry. Born in Tokyo and raised in Chiba Prefecture, he moved to the United States at seventeen and graduated from The Citadel in South Carolina. His career included service in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and work at Starbucks Coffee, Apple Computer, and East Japan Railway before he became a translator. With an interest in transport, he has translated books on aircraft and special forces from different countries. His military translations extend from accounts of units, equipment, and operations to investigative reporting on intelligence and political decision-making. His Japanese translation of Yaakov Katz’s Shadow Strike appeared in 2020 as Shiria Genshiro o Hakai Seyo. The book investigated Israel’s destruction of a Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, tracing the intelligence work that uncovered it, negotiations with the United States, the prime minister’s decision, and efforts to keep the operation secret. It examined the diplomatic process preceding military action as well as the operation itself. In 2024 Mogi translated Peter Robison’s Flying Blind as Meiso Suru Boeing, addressing the relationship between aircraft technology and corporate management. Against the background of the successive 737 MAX crashes, the book investigated Boeing’s merger with McDonnell Douglas, cost-cutting, aircraft design, certification and production, and oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration. His translation followed the account of how a company associated with engineering and safety became increasingly oriented toward financial performance.
