Born in Japan in 1930, Taitetsu Unno immigrated to the United States at the age of six. During World War II he spent three and a half years imprisoned in the Rohwer internment camp in Arkansas. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Buddhist Studies from Tokyo University.

From 1971 to 1998 he taught Buddhism and Japanese aesthetics and was the Jill Ker Conway Professor Emeritus of Religion at Smith College. He retired in December 1998. He continues to travel as a lecturer on Japanese Buddhism, religion, and culture.