Born in Kagoshima, she attended high school there and after graduation became a professional corporate runner with Dai-ichi Life.

[4] As a junior athlete, she made her breakthrough at the Asian Cross Country Championships, leading the Japanese in the individual and team events for two junior gold medals.

[5] Later that year, she placed eighth on the track in the 3000 metres at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics.

She was on Japan's fourth-placed junior team at the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

In 2015, she improved her track bests to 15:21.40 minutes for the 5000 m and 32:16.66 minutes for the 10,000 m.[6] Under the guidance of coach Sachiko Yamashita (a former world medallist in the marathon), she gained selection for Japan at the 2016 Summer Olympics and, after front-running her heat, she made it to the Olympic 5000 m final – only the second Japanese woman to achieve that feat.