He graduated from UCSB in 1972, and after a brief bohemian stint at a variety of jobs and traveling, he became a tour guide in Los Angeles for Japanese tourists, also escorting them to Canada and Mexico.
In 1975, he was awarded a scholarship from Japan's Ministry of Education, to return to ICU and study translation and interpreting.
After finishing his studies at ICU in 1977, he began working in the translation department of Simul International, in Tokyo.
In mid-1978, he returned to the United States, and since then has worked in San Francisco as a freelance writer, translator, and interpreter.
[1] Schodt is notable in manga and anime fandom for his translations of works such as Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix, Tezuka's Astro Boy, Riyoko Ikeda's The Rose of Versailles, Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen, Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama's The Four Immigrants Manga, and others.