Mariko Oi

Presenter and Correspondent Mariko Oi is one of the BBC’s best-known journalists in Asia, having worked for the corporation in the region since 2006.
Mariko has covered major breaking news such as the Japan earthquake in 2011, US debt crisis in 2013, migrant crisis in 2015, President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima in 2016, the inter-Korean summit, the Trump-Kim Singapore summit and Palu tsunami in 2018, Christchurch mosque shooting, Japanese Emperor’s abdication and enthronement, the Trump-Kim DMZ summit, Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, the Rugby World Cup in 2019, the coronavirus outbreak, US-China trade war in 2020, Tokyo Olympics, China’s debt crisis in 2021, crypto crash and former prime minister Shinzo Abe’s assassination in 2022.
Her journalism career started at Bloomberg Television in 2004 where she gained her finance knowledge as a Tokyo-based producer. Combining that with her Japanese language skills and local knowledge, Mariko has presented the BBC’s special series on her home country for over a decade, including programmes such as One Square Mile Nagasaki (2012), Working Lives of Tokyo Women (2015), Talking Business (2015, 2021), Jump Starting Japan (2015, 2016, 2017), Witness Japan (2017), Worklife Japan (2019), Leading Cities Tokyo (2019) and New Tech Economy Japan (2022). This drew on her skills as a highly accomplished moderator and event host, able to chair and facilitate panels and interview high profile guests. Her expertise in business, finance and economics are also a huge asset when working as a moderator at corporate conferences and summits.
Mariko is also known for her investigative radio documentaries on Japan including Missing Histories: China and Japan which she presented for the BBC’s Freedom season in 2014.
In 2013 and 2016, Mariko spent six months in New York as a business correspondent where she reported from the New York Stock Exchange.
She also spent 6 months in London in 2014, presenting news bulletins and reporting on major stories for BBC News Channel and BBC World News.
Mariko was nominated for the Nikken Woman of the Year award in 2009