born in Kyoto to American missionary parents, she attended Japanese public schools
graduate of Yale University
she was a bilingual news producer for Japanese television before joining an independent American film production company as a producer
has subtitled 200+ Japanese films since 1996 including works by Akira KUROSAWA, Hayao MIYAZAKI, Nagisa OSHIMA, Kinji FUKASAKU, Kaneto SHINDO, Junji SAKAMOTO, Hirokazu KORE-EDA, and Kiyoshi KUROSAWA
in 2004, she received a commendation from the Foreign Minister of Japan for her work promoting Japanese film abroad.
has worked as an interpreter for many renowned artists including the kabuki actor, Kanzaburo NAKAMURA, artist Tadanori YOKO, phographer Miyako ISHIUCHI, fashion designer Issey Miyake, artist Makoto AIDA, artist Takashi MURAKAMI, novelist Natsuo KIRINO and photographers Shomei TOMATSU and Daido MORIYAMA
as of 2015 she is working on her next documentary The Guardians of Edo Avant-garde.