Uchida was born in Okayama to a family of sake brewers whose business later went bankrupt.

His novel, Disk of Sarasate (サラサーテの盤, Sarasāte no ban) is the inspiration for the film, Zigeunerweisen.

He is the author of more than fifteen volumes of writings including I am a Cat: The Fake Version (贋作吾輩は猫である, Gansaku wagahai ha neko de aru), and Gates Close at Dusk (日没閉門, Nichibotsu heimon).

[2] Though a great literary figure in Japan, he currently only has one book translated into English: Realm of the Dead (冥途 Meido).

"Small Round Things", a translated excerpt from another collection, Jottings from the Goblins' Garden (Hyakkien Zuihitsu (百鬼園随筆)), appeared in the JAL inflight magazine Skyward in January 2006.