Koto worked at various radio and television stations in Atlanta and Tokyo for nine years before joining CNN.
[1] She graduated, summa cum laude, with a degree in communications from Reinhardt College in Waleska, Georgia, as a presidential scholar.
She also has a degree in Japanese language and culture from Gendai Nihongo Gakko in Tokyo.
[2] Koto was appointed as commissioner to the Asian-American Commission for a new Georgia by Governor Sonny Perdue and is a founder of Who's Who in Asian American Communities.
[3][4] In 2021, Koto received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in recognition of her "outstanding contribution to promoting exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and the United States".