Tomoko grew up in the US, Japan and the UK. She studied Anthropology at University
College London and completed her PhD research in Anthropology and Sociology of Japan at
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. After gaining postdoctoral
research experience at London School of Economics and Cambridge University, she worked
in the automotive industry as an intellectual property manager. Tomoko has published a
monograph among other writings. Since 2016, she has been teaching academic writing at the
Sprachenzentrum, University of Greifswald, to early-career researchers. She also offers
courses in Japanese. As a Japanese to English translator she has contributed to BBC
documentaries.