Born in Hachinohe city, Aomori prefecture. 

After graduating from Jyochi University, she worked in a refugee assistance program.  Then she wanted to know why conflicts occur.  

This experience motivated her to attend the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Massachusetts, USA. 

After completing her master's degree, she worked for the United Nations Association of the United States, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UN Women), and the American Council on Social Affairs, before joining the United Nations Department of Peace Operations, where she worked on Sudan and South Sudan on crisis management. 

At the same time, she received her PhD in Political Science from the State University of New York.

Observing the current state of conflict from inside the UN, she became acutely aware of the limitations to solutions provided by centralized government.  

Sumie met a group of Aska Project when she was contemplating on a world, which she later named it a ‘Jomon World’, which are communities that are connected through trade and the common good, preserving their own faith and protecting their land.

In 2022, she took a leave of absence from the United Nations to return to Japan.  

Currently, she teaches at a university in Tokyo and is exploring what she can further do.  

She is also studying permaculture and has started a Jomon peace research project.