Luxury and Culture Specialist.

Kaori Nakano is a Japanese cultural historian, author, educator, and strategic advisor specializing in luxury culture, fashion history, and British cultural studies. Born on June 8, 1962 in Toyama, Japan, she combines rigorous humanities scholarship with journalistic insight to explore how style, society, and cultural meaning intersect across time and place.

She graduated from the University of Tokyo with degrees in literature and liberal arts and completed doctoral coursework at its Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies. She has served as a visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge and has held academic posts including Specially Appointed Professor at Meiji University and Visiting Professor at Showa Women’s University, with an appointment as Visiting Professor at Aoyama Gakuin University.

Nakano is the author of numerous books on fashion, cultural history, and luxury, including Apparel Innovators: A History of the Industry, The Genealogy of Dandyism, and Royal Style: The Fashion History of the British Monarchy. She is also a regular contributor to major Japanese and international media, offering cultural analysis on luxury, design, and society.

Alongside her academic and editorial work, Nakano has built a long-standing career as a branding and cultural strategy advisor to leading hotel groups, financial institutions in Japan. Through these partnerships, she supports the development of brand identity, customer experience, and cultural positioning from a long-term, values-driven perspective.

She has also served as a judge for the British Business Awards organized by the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan, reflecting her recognized expertise in bridging British and Japanese business, culture, and luxury industries.

Through her writing, teaching, public speaking, and advisory work, Nakano is widely regarded as a leading voice connecting scholarship, creative industries, and business practice, and for articulating luxury as a living cultural and ethical force in contemporary society.

Academic Background & Career:

• Graduated from the Faculty of Letters and College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo.
• Completed coursework for the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo.
• Former Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge.
• Held teaching positions as a part-time lecturer at the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo; Specially Appointed Professor at Meiji University’s School of Global Japanese Studies; and Visiting Professor at Showa Women’s University.

Committees & Advisory Roles:

• Member, Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry’s Fashion Futures Study Group.
• Expert Lecturer for the Ministry of Education’s Program for Fostering Value-Creation Talent under the Kyoto Creative Assemblage initiative.

Advisor and Consultant:

• Lecture Consultant, Prince Hotel Tokyo City Area (2017–2022).
• Advisor, Kunishima Co., Ltd.
• Advisor, Kochi Shinkin Bank.
• Advisor, Gayo Society

Lectures & Training:

Delivered programs and seminars for leading organizations, including:

• LVMH Japan
• BVLGARI Japan
• Japan Hotel Association Top Seminar
• Shiseido fibona × POLA mirc
  …and many more.