Maiko Ichihara is a Professor in the Graduate School of Law and the School of International and Public Policy, and Assistant Vice President for International Affairs at Hitotsubashi University, Japan. She also serves on the steering committees of the World Movement for Democracy, the East Asia Democracy Forum, and Japan Factcheck Center. Throughout her career, she has undertaken research on international relations, democracy support, Japanese foreign policy, and influence operations. She earned her Ph.D. in political science from the George Washington University. Her recent publications include: “How to Tackle Disinformation in Japan: Lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war,” in Jessica Brandt, et al., Impact of Disinformation on Democracy in Asia (Brookings Institution, 2022); “Japanese Democracy After Shinzo Abe,” Journal of Democracy 32-1 (2021); and Japan\'s International Democracy Assistance as Soft Power: Neoclassical Realist Analysis (New York and London: Routledge, 2017).