Ben Sakoguchi was born in 1938, in San Bernardino California. During World War II, his family was incarcerated by the United States government because of their Japanese ancestry, so he spent his early childhood in an internment camp at Poston, Arizona. After the war, the Sakoguchis returned to San Bernardino, and with considerable difficulty, reopened their small grocery business. Ben attended public schools, including San Bernardino Valley College. Moving to Los Angeles and UCLA, Sakoguchi earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, teaching credential, and in 1964 a Master of Fine Arts degree. He stayed in the Los Angeles area, accepting a teaching position at Pasadena City College, where he was on the Art Department faculty until his 1997 retirement. In four decades as a professional artist, Sakoguchi has shown his work in numerous solo and group exhibitions, primarily at schools, museums, and other non-profit venues within the United States. He has been awarded two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and in 1997 participated in the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Artists at Giverny Program. More recently, he was among the recipients of Flintridge Foundation Awards for Visual Artists for 2005-2006.