Mayumi Maruyama

News Desk Researcher

Mayumi Maruyama is a News Desk Researcher on CNN's International Desk, based at the network's Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong.
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1289025 CNN Expansion Headshots - Hong Kong 2022
1289025 CNN Expansion Headshots - Hong Kong 2022
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02 Wrestler Yui Susaki.jpg
Sachiko Hotaka
The last time this wrestler competed at the Olympics, she did not concede a single point
Aug 6, 2024
She only just turned 25, but Yui Susaki is already a reigning Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion, and is widely touted as the best pound-for-pound freestyle wrestler in the world.
Overgrown vegetation surrounds a vacant house in the Yato area of Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013. More than 50 houses and apartments, almost 20 percent of the quaint residential neighborhood of narrow streets and stairway paths leading into green hills, are empty here, an hour's train ride south of Tokyo and 1,000 yards (900 meters) from the Yokosuka naval base, home of the U.S. Seventh Fleet. Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Akio Kon/Bloomberg/Getty Images/File
Super-aged Japan now has 9 million vacant homes. And that’s a problem
May 8, 2024
The number of vacant houses in Japan has surged to a record high of nine million – more than enough for each person in New York City – as the east Asian country continues to struggle with its ever-declining population.
The cable car to the summit of Masikryong Ski Resort near Wonsan, North Korea. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
Carl Court/Getty Images
Tourists have returned to North Korea for the first time since the pandemic. Here’s what they saw
Feb 27, 2024
Masikryong Ski Resort hosted a group of tourists from North Korean ally Russia.
A pod of at least 10 killer whales appears to be trapped by sea ice off Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, public broadcaster NHK reported on Tuesday. Officials from the coastal town of Rausu say they have no way to rescue the orcas, which were first spotted by a local fisherman, NHK reported.
Wildlife Pro LLC/Facebook
Pod of at least 10 killer whales appears trapped by sea ice in Japan
Feb 7, 2024
A pod of at least 10 killer whales appears to be trapped by sea ice off Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, public broadcaster NHK reported on Tuesday.
Fire fighters and Self-Defense Force members rescue an elderly man in cardiopulmonary arrest from a collapsed house on January 3, 2024 in Suzu, Ishikawa, Japan.
The Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images
Earthquake survivors in Japan sleep in coats and hats at shelters without heat or running water
Jan 4, 2024
For some, the Ishikawa quake brought back memories of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which triggered a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima power plant.
Travelers crowd the check-in area at terminal 2 at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda on January 3, 2024, as flight delays on one of the busiest travel days of the year following the New Year's Day holidays were made worse due to the collision on the tarmac the night before between a coast guard plane and a Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger jet, shutting down one of the main runways.
Stringer/JIJI Press/AFP/Getty Images
More than 100 flights canceled following crash at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport
Jan 3, 2024
More than 100 flights to and from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport are expected to be canceled on Wednesday following a plane collision at the airport, according to two Japanese carriers.
Japan Airlines' A350 airplane is on fire at Haneda international airport in Tokyo, Japan January 2, 2024. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Issei Kato/Reuters
Japan Airlines jet bursts into flames after collision with earthquake relief plane at Tokyo Haneda airport
Jan 3, 2024
A Japan Airlines plane carrying hundreds of passengers burst into flames at Tokyo’s Haneda airport after it was in collision with an earthquake relief aircraft.
Former Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki pitches during a game between his amateur baseball team Kobe Chiben and a team of selected high school female players at Tokyo Dome in the Japanese capital on Nov. 21, 2023. (Photo by Kyodo News via Getty Images)
Kyodo News/Getty Images
Baseball great Ichiro Suzuki throws shutout against a high school girls’ team in Japan
Nov 22, 2023
He may have retired from professional baseball four years ago, but Ichiro Suzuki certainly hasn’t lost his appetite for the game.
The original treehouse at Treeful in Okinawa prefecture.
Treeful
One of Japan’s most elegant hotels is actually a treehouse
Nov 14, 2023
Some little kids dream of building a treehouse. But one Japanese man followed through on his dream to create a luxury escape that adults can enjoy too.
This aerial photo shows first responders take position outside the post office where a man is believed to hole up in Warabi city, Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (Kyodo News via AP)
Kyodo News/AP
Japan police detain 86-year-old suspected gunman who had barricaded himself in post office with hostages
Nov 1, 2023
Japanese police arrested an 86-year-old suspected gunman Tuesday who had barricaded himself in a post office with two hostages after injuring two people at a hospital earlier in the day.
Passenger aircraft operated by Japan Airlines Co. (JAL) at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, April 27, 2023. Japan's Golden Week holidays start Saturday and will cover much of next week. Photographer: Toru Hanai/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Toru Hanai/Bloomberg/Getty Images
‘The middle seat was the toughest’: Japan Airlines adds extra flight to carry heavy sumo wrestlers
Oct 17, 2023
The sumo wrestlers weighed an average of 120 kilograms (264 pounds) each.
Sarina Bolden of Philippines celebrates after scoring her team's first goal during the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 Group A match between New Zealand and Philippines at Wellington Regional Stadium on July 25, 2023 in Wellington, New Zealand.
Katelyn Mulcahy/FIFA /Getty Images
The Philippines stun co-host New Zealand 1-0 to earn first ever Women’s World Cup win
Jul 25, 2023
The Philippines stunned New Zealand 1-0 to earn its first ever Women’s World Cup victory on Tuesday off California-born Sarina Bolden’s 24th-minute goal.
Members of the Philippines Women's World Cup team walk to their team bus following a shooting near their hotel in the central business district in Auckland, New Zealand, Thursday, July 20, 2023. A gunman killed two people before he died Thursday at a construction site in Auckland, as the nation prepared to host games in the FIFA Women's World Cup soccer tournament.(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Abbie Parr/AP
US diaspora helps Philippines make World Cup history with country’s first ever appearance
Jul 21, 2023
When the Philippines faced off against Switzerland in the New Zealand city of Dunedin on Friday, they became the first team of any gender from the Southeast Asian nation to play at a World Cup.
The ALPS-treated water is stored in these towering tanks. Picture taken in Okuma of Fukushima prefecture on April 12, 2023.
Daniel Campisi/CNN
Japan will soon release Fukushima radioactive water into the ocean. How worried should we be?
Jul 5, 2023
Japan will soon begin releasing treated radioactive water into the ocean following approval from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog for a controversial plan that comes 12 years after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown.
玄関緑
Courtesy Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan
What it’s like to stay at the world’s oldest hotel
Jun 9, 2023
Tucked deep Japan’s Yamanashi prefecture, 1,300-year-old Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan has tatami floors, kimono-sporting staff, and signs in handwritten calligraphy.
This photo taken on May 15, 2023, shows the sign of Johnny & Associates Inc., Japan's most powerful talent agencies, on its office building in Tokyo.
Kyodo News/Getty Images
Japan’s top pop agency apologizes for alleged sexual abuse by late founder
May 16, 2023
The head of Japan’s biggest music agency has apologized over allegations of years-long sexual abuse committed by its founder, the late entertainment mogul Johnny Kitagawa.

About

Mayumi Maruyama is a News Desk Researcher on CNN’s International Desk, based at the network’s Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong.

In this role, Maruyama has supported the network’s coverage of some of the biggest news events in recent years including the ongoing war in Ukraine, the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as well as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Maruyama started her career in journalism at NHK, where she was based in California and worked as an Associate Producer covering US news for Japanese audiences. In this role, she covered news events including the attempted assassination of Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the legalization of same-sex marriage in the US, and two US presidential elections. Maruyama has also worked for the Peace Corps and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, traveling to various cities in Ukraine and producing video content about refugees in the country.

Maruyama has a degree in feature film from the Brooks Institute in California and is fluent in Japanese and conversational in Russian.