Kumiko Makihara

Research Interests: Comparative education, mass media, contemporary world history

Kumiko Makihara is a writer about contemporary life in Japan, particularly in comparison with the United States. Her articles have appeared in the International Herald Tribune, the New York Times Magazine and Newsweek, as well as in the books Reimagining Japan: The Quest for a Future That Works (Shogakukan, 2011) and Tsunami: Japan’s Post Fukushima Future (Foreign Policy Magazine, 2011). She is currently working on a book about Japanese primary schools. She previously was a reporter for Time Magazine and the Associated Press and a features editor at the Moscow Times.

Kumiko received a BA in Languages from International Christian University (1980) in Tokyo and an MA in American Studies from the University of Hawaii (1983).