Yuko Murase, a journalist with more than 15 years of experience at The Mainichi Shimbun, a major Japanese daily newspaper, joins the academic community as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar whose work brings together journalism, education, and an international perspective. Writing in both English and Japanese, she has built a distinguished career reporting on education, social issues, and culture in Japan, while advancing her work through comparative research at Stanford University before her arrival in Hawaiʻi.
Exploring Educational Possibilities Across the United States and Japan
As a Fulbright Visiting Scholar, Murase is conducting comparative research on educational systems and practices in the United States and Japan. Her work examines a range of educational models, including charter schools, homeschooling, and innovative learning initiatives, with particular attention to how these approaches expand student choice and access.
Murase’s research builds on her reporting on education in Japan, including her article, “Preference for ‘Free Schools’ over Compulsory Education Stirs Controversy in Japan.” In that work, she explores the growing debate around alternative education pathways and the shifting expectations of families and students. Her current research extends this inquiry by analyzing how diverse U.S. models may inform future educational possibilities in Japan.
She began this line of research at Stanford University’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center during the fall and winter quarters of the 2025–2026 academic year. Building on that experience, she is now exploring educational diversity in Hawaiʻi, a place with deep historical and cultural connections to Japan.
A Distinguished Career in Journalism and Public Interest Reporting
Murase has reported extensively on education and social issues, including school absenteeism (futoko), bullying, school consolidation in depopulating regions, and the growing demand for expanded educational options in Japan. Her work reflects a strong commitment to careful, in-depth reporting on issues that directly affect people’s lives and communities.
Earlier in her career, she was among the journalists who reported on the case of a 13-year-old student who died by suicide in Shiga Prefecture, a case that drew national attention and led to the enactment of Japan’s Anti-Bullying Act in 2013. More recently, her investigative series on harassment within a fire department in Shiga Prefecture during and after the COVID-19 pandemic received the 19th Hikita Keiichiro Award in 2025 from the Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers’ Unions, an honor recognizing journalism that protects human rights and promotes trust in the press. In 2025, she also received the Fulbright Scholar Award in Journalism as the only Japanese journalist selected that year.
A Global Perspective Shaped by Study and Reporting
Murase’s academic and professional interests have been shaped by international experience from an early age. At 17, she moved from Japan to Australia on her own to attend high school. She later studied journalism at Rutgers University in the United States and sociology at the University of the Philippines as an exchange student, building a foundation for the comparative and cross-cultural perspective that continues to inform her work.
In addition to her education reporting, Murase has covered major international events, including President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Hiroshima, and interviewed filmmaker Oliver Stone during his first visit to the city. Having spent many years reporting in Shiga Prefecture near Kyoto, she has also developed a deep appreciation for local journalism and a strong interest in its future in the digital age. Her work reflects a belief that close attention to local issues can reveal lessons with global relevance.