Ikuo Kabashima received a bachelor's and master's degrees in Animal Science and Agricultural Economics from the University of Nebraska.

[3] He received a Ph.D. in political economy from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1979.

Kabashima was an associate professor at the Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences of the University of Tsukuba from 1986 to 1991.

Kabahsima led the development of Kumamon, a promotional mascot that gained popularity both in Japan and abroad.

[4] Aichi: Hideaki Ōmura Akita: Norihisa Satake Aomori: Sōichirō Miyashita Chiba: Toshihito Kumagai Ehime: Tokihiro Nakamura Fukui: Tatsuji Sugimoto Fukuoka: Seitaro Hattori Fukushima: Masao Uchibori Gifu: Hajime Furuta Gunma: Ichita Yamamoto Hiroshima: Hidehiko Yuzaki Hokkaidō: Naomichi Suzuki Hyōgo: Motohiko Saitō Ibaraki: Kazuhiko Ōigawa Ishikawa: Hiroshi Hase Iwate: Takuya Tasso Kagawa: Toyohito Ikeda Kagoshima: Kōichi Shiota Kanagawa: Yūji Kuroiwa Kōchi: Seiji Hamada Kumamoto: Takashi Kimura Kyoto: Takatoshi Nishiwaki Mie: Katsuyuki Ichimi Miyagi: Yoshihiro Murai Miyazaki: Shunji Kōno Nagano: Shuichi Abe Nagasaki: Kengo Oishi Nara: Makoto Yamashita Niigata: Hideyo Hanazumi Ōita: Kiichiro Satō Okayama: Ryuta Ibaragi Okinawa: Denny Tamaki Osaka: Hirofumi Yoshimura Saga: Yoshinori Yamaguchi Saitama: Motohiro Ōno Shiga: Taizō Mikazuki Shimane: Tatsuya Maruyama Shizuoka: Yasutomo Suzuki Tochigi: Tomikazu Fukuda Tokushima: Masazumi Gotoda Tokyo: Yuriko Koike Tottori: Shinji Hirai Toyama: Hachiro Nitta Wakayama: Shūhei Kishimoto Yamagata: Mieko Yoshimura Yamaguchi: Tsugumasa Muraoka Yamanashi: Kotaro Nagasaki