Akiko Fujita is an ABC News reporter based in Tokyo. She contributes to all ABC News broadcasts, ABC News radio and ABC NewsOne, the network's affiliate news service. She also files for ABC News' digital platforms, including ABCNews.com and ABC News NOW.

Fujita has covered Japan extensively throughout her career. In recent years she's covered the ongoing dispute over U.S. marine base Futenma in Okinawa - filing reports out of Japan's southern island. She also traveled to Guam to examine the impact of the military buildup there. She reported extensively on the fallout from Toyota's largest recall in company history, and covered the historic Japanese election in 2009, which ended the near 50-year rule of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Prior to her move to Japan, Fujita spent several years covering the Northwest as a reporter for ABC affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle. During her time there, she witnessed the eruption of Mount St. Helens, reported on the closest gubernatorial election in Washington State history, and covered every major snow and rain storm that hit the Northwest, including the Western Washington floods of 2007. Before joining KOMO-TV, she was a general assignment reporter for NorthWest Cable News in Seattle. She began her career in Pocatello, Idaho where she reported for ABC affiliate KIFI-TV.

A native of Los Angeles, Fujita is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where she studied broadcast journalism. She is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association and is fluent in Japanese.

1) Writing...good storytelling and writing skills will help you stand out above the rest.
2) Be prepared to move out of your comfort zone...not everyone can get jobs in their home state. You’d be amazed at how much you can learn by moving to a place you knew little about.
3) Learn to enterprise stories. In your first job you will likely have very little breaking news and hard news stories...especially in a small town. Learn to develop sources and enterprise stories from your beats...don’t rely on the newspaper and wires for stories!

Reporter/ Writer-Shooter-Editor

Fight On!!