Lisa Kubota

While growing up on Maui, I never dreamed of a job in television news. My interest developed only after I graduated from college and found myself still undecided on a career choice.

Before moving overseas for a position with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET), I spent the summer as an intern at KHNL News 8. It seemed like a different world. Looming deadlines. Phones ringing constantly. The police and fire scanners were so loud I could hardly concentrate. But I loved the energy and excitement of the newsroom.

I returned to KHNL after two years of teaching English in Ibaraki Prefecture. While living in Japan, I wrote an article for the Asahi Evening News about my experience as a foreigner living near a nuclear power plant during a deadly accident in 1999.

I joined the KGMB9 News team in 2004. What I enjoy most about my job as a journalist is meeting people from all walks of life and getting to share their stories.

The Japanese government asked KGMB9 to create a 30-minute show about the Imperial Couple's visit to Hawaii in 2009. I had a rare chance to go behind the gates of the Toyko palace for an exclusive interview about the changing role of the monarchy. Our program also explored the close connection between Japan and our islands.

Another highlight of my career was being invited by the South Korean government to attend a conference for Korean journalists from around the world. My reports from the Demilitarized Zone examined the tension that still exists between the two sides.

I'm proud of my roots on Maui, where I picked up some of my job skills thanks to theatre training and years of speech and debate competitions. I attended Baldwin High School and graduated from Claremont McKenna College in California with a dual major in Government and Psychology.