Mizuko Ito

Mizuko Itō or Mizuko Ito a.k.a. Mimi Ito (伊藤瑞子, Itō Mizuko?, born 22 July 1968, Kyōto, Japan) is a Japanese cultural anthropologist who is an Associate Researcher at the Humanities Research Institute at the University of California, Irvine. In addition, she is a Visiting Associate Professor at the Keio University Graduate School of Media and Governance.

Her main professional interest is the use of media technology. She has explored the ways in which digital media are changing relationships, identities, and communities. With Misa Matsuda and Daisuke Okabe, Ito edited Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life (MIT Press, 2005). In 2006, Ito received a MacArthur Foundation grant to "observe children's interactions with digital media to get a sense of how they're really using the technology." This work led to the "Digital Media and Learning Hub" (housed in the UCHRI) and the recent publication of two books: Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out and Engineering Play: A Cultural History of Children's Software.