Born and raised in Japan, Yumi came to the United States as a freshman in a small college in North Carolina. After transferring and receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Southern Oregon University, she moved to Thailand to work at hotels and briefly at a Japanese company based in Bangkok. She then returned to the United States to obtain a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

While working toward a PhD in Criminal Justice at SUNY Albany, she also worked at the Division of Criminal Justice Services assisting in their research. Her research interests include comparative analyses of sexual violence, consequences of violent victimisation, and causes of criminal behaviour. Her work appears in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, International Criminal Justice Review, Journal of School Violence, Child Abuse & Neglect, Journal of Law & Criminal Justice, and Sexual Assault Report.