John Power was born in Armidale, N.S.W. in 1946. He specialized in Japanese at Sydney University and graduated in 1967 with First Class Honors and a University Medal in Japanese. He received a Ph.D. in modern Japanese literature from Sydney University in 1973. In 1978, he became a lecturer in English at the College of Law, Nihon University, retiring in 2016.Since he learnt go in Japan in 1967, it has been his main hobby. He worked for many years at the Nihon Ki-in as translator and interpreter, was assistant editor of Go Review 1974 77, and founded Go World, editing most of its issues. He has written or translated 20 go books, including the preeminent English book on Honinbo Shusaku, Invincible.
