Professor Sukehiro Hasegawa, Director of the ACUNS Tokyo Liaison Office, has appointed Ms. Motoko Mizuno as Deputy Director, effective July 2026.
The appointment follows the resignation of the former Deputy Director, Ms. Ai Kihara-Hunt, who was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in March 2026 as the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children.
Ms. Mizuno was born in 1970 in Toyama Prefecture. She graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo and earned a Master’s degree in International Law from Leiden University in the Netherlands.
She subsequently held senior positions at the National Space Development Agency of Japan, now the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, where she worked extensively in the fields of space law and international cooperation.
In 2022, she was elected to the House of Councilors for the Kanagawa electoral district as a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Her term of office ran from July 2022 to July 2025. During her tenure, she served on the Committee on Cabinet, the Committee on Oversight of Administration, the Research Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Security, and the Special Committee on Official Development Assistance and Related Matters and Okinawa and Northern Problems.
Following her service in the House of Councilors, Ms. Mizuno has continued to engage in activities related to space policy and peacebuilding. She currently serves as Vice President of the Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan and as a Board Member of the United Nations Association of Japan.
As Deputy Director of the ACUNS Tokyo Liaison Office, Ms. Mizuno is expected to contribute her extensive experience in international law, space policy, international cooperation and peacebuilding to the Office’s academic and international activities.
