Misato Nagakawa was born and raised in Tokyo. Misato’s work focuses on advancing mutual understanding in East Asia—particularly among Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea—through education, youth empowerment, and grassroots exchange. She joined the CAMPUS Asia Program for her master’s degree as one of the first cohorts from the University of Tokyo, earned a double degree from Peking University as a Bai Xian Scholar, and completed a six-month exchange at Seoul National University.
Her professional expertise includes peacebuilding in East Asia, program design, storytelling, facilitation, moderation, education, and youth empowerment. She spent eight years at GLOBIS, serving as a corporate consultant, senior associate, and team leader. At GLOBIS University, she led special programs for the English MBA program and supported the launch of new courses, including Cybersecurity for Business and Regional Revitalization in Mito. Misato also serves as an adjunct lecturer at Musashi University, teaching Global Leadership, Global Civics, and Peace Studies. From February 2026, she will serve as the LEAP Fellow director at International House of Japan.
Since 2018, she has served as the deputy director of Wake Up Japan, where she established the Peace Ambassador Project in East Asia, partially funded by the Lee Heul Keon Korea-Japan Exchange Foundation. In 2023, she was selected as Davos 50 as a representative of the Global Shapers Community from Northeast Asia. She has also served as a core member of the Trilateral Youth Exchange Network (TYEN) for two consecutive years, appointed by the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat.
Misato is currently an advisor for the ASEAN-Japan Future Generation Business Leaders’ Summit and a PhD student in Global Studies at Sophia University. She is the co-author of Japan-Korean Studies (Nikkan Studies) (2024) and received the Beyond Millennials Award (2025), sponsored by Business Insider.
