Born in Sapporo, she graduated from the Art Department of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois(USA). In 1966, she joined E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology)in New York, taking part in a number of pioneering projects, which encouraged the collaboration between artists and scientists. At the Pepsi pavilion at the Osaka Expo '70, with the help of scientists she became the first person to produce such a “fog sculpture” with enormous volumes of artificial fog dancing in dialogue with its surroundings and the visiting breezes. Since those days, her work has focused on participatory art, bringing people and their environment together using fog as a medium in such varied modes as fog environments, parks, and the stage. Much of her work has also been in the form of collaboration with other genres, making use of sound, light, and dance. She is recipient of many awards, including the Yoshida Isoya Special Award. She has also been a leader in Japanese video projects since 1972 through activities with Video Hiroba and SCAN, and in every other year since 1987 has organized the International Video and Television Festival at Spiral Hall in Tokyo. She was the recipient of the Japan Media Arts Festival Special Achievement Award in 2009.