Midori Tanioka (née Kawagoe)

BORN OCTOBER 2４, 1984
Web Writer/ Columnist / Former TV News Reporter with TV TOKYO News Bureau

Work Experience

  • Writer for CHANTO WEB, an online media portal of Shufu to Seikatsusha (2021 – present)
    The interview with a mother raising a girl with Down syndrome, the interview with a woman diagnosed with breast cancer in her 20s, and other articles reached 5 million page views. Keep writing intensively.
  • Wrote a column “Illustrated Books Bring up Mothers” for Hokkaido Newspaper(2018 – 2020)
    The column appeared in print and on the website of the Hokkaido Newspaper and was well received.
  • Public relations manager of the NGO “Baan Rom Sai” (an orphanage for children  who have been infected with HIV from their mothers) (2013 – 2015)
    Besides being responsible for the interviews and narration of the orphanage presentation video, also involved in writing and collecting information on the current situation of people living with HIV in Thailand for a book produced by the orphanage.
  • Reporter and Director at the Social Affairs Department News Center, TV Tokyo  News Bureau(Apr 2007 – Aug 2012)
    Assigned area: Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigation Department and courts

 [Main Cases Treated]

  • Great East Japan Earthquake (I was on site the day after the disaster to report from Kesennuma City and Minamisannriku city in Miyagi prefecture)
  • The Akihabara massacre, in which 17 people were killed or injured (covered the case from first report to death sentence)
  • Stabbing murder of a Chuo University professor
  • The murder of a girl in Togane city
  • Mysterious disappearance case in a condominium in Koto-ku
  • The case of Rikuzankai, the fund management organisation of Ichiro Ozawa, a member of the House of Representatives, and many other cases.

 [Documentary]

  • Last chapter of daily workers (Hiyatoi no Saishusho): Sanya District seen by a doctor.

Received the highest internal rating of ‘S’ from 2009 to 2012 for the scoops and reporting approach in the cases I was responsible for.

Education

Graduated from Keio University, Faculty of Policy Management (Apr 2003 – Mar 2007),　
Bachelor of Policy Management

Involved in research activities under the direction of Professor Toshiyuki Kagawa (currently professor emeritus at Keio University) on the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

The graduation thesis, “The Current Structure and Perspectives of the Common European Security Policy – The EU Talking about Civilian Power” received the SFC Award as an appropriate thesis representing Keio University’s Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC). 

  • Participated in the spring course at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences-Po), and obtained a diploma in International Political Relations (Feb – Mar 2005).
  • Selected as a member of the Hungarian delegation of the Cabinet Office’s International Youth Development Programme and participated in a one-month exchange programme in Hungary (Sep 2006)

Graduated from Ritsumeikan Keisho High School, regular course (Apr 2000 – Mar 2003).

  • Selected as one of six Japanese representatives for the 4th Japan-US Maritime High School Youth Exchange. Participated in the peace exchange programme to visit Pearl Harbour and Hiroshima.
  • Visited Shikotan Island as a member of the visa-free delegation to the Northern Territories.
  • Stayed in Adelaide, Australia for a month as part of the school’s spring programme.

Volunteer experience

  • Produced an introductory video for the NGO “Ban Rom Sai” (Orphanage for Mothers and Children with HIV) in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Worked as a narrator and journalist, creating 9 videos from 2004 to 2013.
  • Created an introductory video for the NGO “Mae Tao Clinic” (a clinic offering free medical care to refugees from Myanmar), commissioned by the Nippon Foundation in 2012.

Awards

  • Grand Prize in National Senior High School Oratorical Contest held with the 40th Fukuzawa Yukichi Memorial Festival (Nov 2001)
  • Awarded the Ebetsu City Youth Culture Prize (May 2002)
  • Award for excellence in the oratory section of the 45th National High School Comprehensive Culture Festival (Aug 2002)
  • First prize in the National Youth Oratorical Contest in the division of high school students – 47th Cup of Ministers of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Nov 2002)
  • Received many awards in other oratorical contests
  • Delivered a speech in front of the current Emperor, who was then Crown Prince, as the Japanese representative of the Cabinet Office’s International Youth Development Programme
  • Received the SFC award for the graduate thesis at the university “The Current Structure and Perspectives of the Common European Security Policy – The EU Talking about Civilian Power”