Nobuko Hiroi was born in Kobe in 1951. She graduated from Kyoto City University of Arts in 1975 with a major in textile arts from the Department of Crafts and completed her advanced studies in the same field in 1977. Hiroi worked at Kyoto City University of Arts from 1988 to 2017 and was a Ministry of Education overseas research fellow at Kansas State University’s Department of Art from 1997 to 1998. She currently holds the title of Professor Emerita at Kyoto City University of Arts.

In addition to exhibiting her work in Japan and internationally, Hiroi continues to research textile techniques from around the world. Her work is held in collections including the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. Her major publications include *Tabisuru Nuno—Works/Words/Worlds* (2017, Bigaku Publishing) and *Orimono no Genfuukei—Higashi Ajia no Hata to Nuno* (1999, co-authored, Shikosha).