She is a journalist, writer, documentary filmmaker, and co-founder of Hanashi Films. Shiori Ito wrote the 2017 book Black Box, based on her own experience of sexual assault and revealed the sexism in Japan’s society and institutions. Ito’s searing account foregrounded the #MeToo movement in Japan and became the centre of an urgent cultural and legal shift around recognising sexual assault and gender-based violence. The book won the Free Press Association of Japan Award in 2018, and in 2020 she was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. Recently Ito was named the 2024 recipient of the International Documentary Association’s prestigious Emerging Filmmaker Award.

Her primary focus is gender-based human rights issues. Hanashi Films, her Tokyo and London-based production company has collaborated with NHK, BBC, and Al Jazeera, amongst others.