[4] Her civil service career included numerous posts in the office of the Prime Minister of Japan, the Bureau of Statistics, and the Cabinet Secretariat, including posts overseeing policy on gender equality, youth, and the elderly.

[6] In 1981 she spent a term at Harvard University's Mary I. Bunting Institute studying women managers.

[4][9] From 2001 to 2003 Bando was the inaugural director general of the Japanese government's Gender Equality Bureau.

[12] Bloomberg Businessweek described Bando as "the Japanese government's front-and-center spokeswoman, cheerleader, and champion of its policy of leveling the playing field for women".

[17][18] Bando has written books on a variety of topics, including aging, leadership, and etiquette.

[23] A study by scholar Hiroko Hirakawa found that many women objected to the book's portrayal of the "dignified woman" as a "superwoman who projects an upper-class aura while remaining ever modest and grounded in an appreciation for the old-fashioned values of frugality, respect, and sentiment".