Mizutori earned a degree in law from Hitotsubashi University and a diploma in International Studies from the Diplomatic School of Spain.

[1][3][4] In 2011 Mizutori became Executive Director of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures at the University of East Anglia, in England.

[1][3][5] She has also taught courses at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and Waseda University,[1][3] has been published and advised think tanks on current affairs, and is a member of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group, which makes annual recommendations to the Prime Ministers of the two countries.

[5][3] On 1 March 2018 Mizutori succeeded Robert Glasser as Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR, formerly UNISDR).

[1][3][4][6] Mizutori is married to Barak Kushner, Reader in modern Japanese history at the University of Cambridge.