Kimiko grew up in Berkeley, California, dancing like her mother and writing like her father. She is the co-founder and co-artistic director of Dandelion Dancetheater. Kimiko holds a BA in Literature/Creative Writing from UC Santa Cruz and an MFA in Choreography from Mills College, and has worked with many San Francisco Bay Area-based dance companies, including Asian American Dance Performances and the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company. Her debut novel, BLOCK SEVENTEEN, was published in 2020. She is currently the professional learning manager at Luna Dance & Creativity and teaches dance pedagogy at CSU East Bay.