Shoji Sakurai was born on January 1, 1927, as the eldest son of Sakurai Mannojo and Kou, woodworkers in Naruko.
After graduating from Naruko Senior High School in March 1945, he studied woodworking for two years under his uncle Onuma Iwazo in Nakayamadaira. After that, he returned home and began making kokeshi dolls and other items using a foot-operated potter's wheel.
Around 1950, he opened a souvenir shop called "Sakurai" and set up a potter's wheel in a corner of the store. In 1954, his work was photographed and introduced in the magazine Kokeshi, People, and Culture.
