He graduated with degrees in law and literature from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in 1899.

Together with fellow Cambridge alumni Tanaka Ginnosuke, he established a rugby union at Keio in 1899 and served as coach to the fledgling team.

Clarke continued to coach rugby at Keio until 1907, after which an injury to his right leg complicated by rheumatism, led to its amputation.

Clarke was an excellent academic and a prolific contributor to the Encyclopædia Britannica, under the initials "EB", and was in correspondence with Lafcadio Hearn.

He continued to work at Kyoto Imperial University until his death in 1934 of an intracranial hemorrhage.