While Mitsuru was specialising in environmental and biological sciences for a bachelor’s degree and also a master’s degree in Japan, he became interested how environmental issues and their scientific aspects were communicated to the public. In 2005, he went to the University of Tasmania, where he completed his research on the media coverage of the whaling conflict between Australia and Japan for his second master's degree. In early 2009, he moved to Canberra to commence his research on science communication.