Mayuko SANOProfessor of Cultural Policy at Kyoto University

Professor at the Graduate School of Education of Kyoto University, Mayuko Sano holds an MPhil from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from the University of Tokyo. She began her career at the Japan Foundation and UNESCO before serving as Associate Professor at the Shizuoka University of Art and Culture and at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, prior to taking up her current position in 2018.

She notably founded the Expo-logy Research Group (2010–), bringing together researchers and specialists from various fields, as well as the New Cultural Policy Project (2019–), both of which she continues to lead. Her major publications include Alcock’s Edo (2003), A Study of Japanese Diplomatic Ceremonies at the End of the Edo Period (2016), and Expo-logy (ed., 2020). She also serves as a board member of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Expo, a member of the evaluation committee for Expo 2025, and an advisor to the Kyoto Cultural Foundation.