About me

Seiji is a Japanese-American jazz musician and award-winning video journalist based in Washington, D.C. He is currently a journalist at CBS News. In 2021, he completed a Master’s degree at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and in 2024 he received a duPont-Columbia Award for his environmental reporting at ABC News. Seiji was previously based in New York City during his time at ABC News.

Seiji’s print and video reporting has taken him around the country, reporting not only from New York City and Washington, D.C. but also from the American South, Midwest, East and West Coasts, and Oceania. While at CBS News, he covered the 2024 Presidential election, covering both Presidential nominees and reporting from all seven swing states.

He is also known for his reporting and producing at East Side Stories, a non-profit filmmaking collective dedicated to telling hyper-local AAPI stories in New York City.

For undergrad, Seiji was a dual degree student at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Rochester, studying Jazz Piano Performance and International Relations. In addition to working as a professional freelance musician, he was an Americorps Vista and the Vice-President of the Students' Association. He completed both degrees in 2020.

Musically, Seiji studied with Amonte Parsons, Taylor Eigsti, Harold Danko, and Gary Versace. He was also a San Jose Taiko Junior Taiko Performing Member in high school. You may recognize him from the viral YouTube channel ReacttotheK, a channel dedicated to analyzing K-pop through the lens of music students.