Taken from the flap of his own Biographical Dictionary of Japanese History:
"Seiichi Iwao was born in Tokyo in 1900 and graduated in 1925 from Tokyo Imperial university. After several years as assistant professor in the literature and politics department of Taihoku Imperial university, he spent two years as a traveling scholar in England and the Netherlands. From 1948 to 1961, he was a professor in the school of literature of Tokyo University, where he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Literature in 1951. Dr. Iwao has published widely on the history of Japanese negotiations with foreign powers in the early modern period. His career has been distinguished by membership in numerous professional societies, and he was been recognized for his work by the Japan Academy Prize (1941) and the Asahi Culture Prize (1968), as well as election to the Japan Academy (1965) and the British Academy (1977). A past chairman of the Historical Society of Japan (Shigakkai) and the "Societe Franco-Japonaise des Sciences Historiques" (Nichi-Futsu Rekishi Gakkai), he is currently chairman of the board of directors of the Japan-Netherlands Institute (Nichi-Ran Gakkai) and a director of the Institute of Eastern Culture (Tôhô Gakkai) as well as the International Society for Educational Information."