Attended Fukuoka Prefectural Meizen High School, and then graduated with a major in Chinese philosophy at Aichi University in Nagoya. Sakemi uses many themes from Chinese history in his writing. He examines the meanings of freedom and imprisonment as well, even if this causes his stories to vary from historical fact. In addition to writing, Sakemi has also worked at a housing equipment company.

In 1989, Sakemi's novel Kōkyū Shōsetsu won the first Japan Fantasy Novel Award. The following year, this novel was nominated for the Naoki Award and made into the TV anime movie Like the Clouds, Like the Wind. In 1991, Bokko was nominated for the 104th Naoki Awards, and then won the 4th Nakajima Atsushi Memorial Award along with his novel Rōkō ni Ari in 1992. Sakemi won the 19th Nitta Jirō Literature Prize for Shūkōtan in 2000