She was named a Bonnie E. Cone Early-Career Professorship for Teaching in 2014. Student motivation, learning strategies and international and global studies are among her teaching and research interests. Kato built and is directing one of the largest undergraduate Japanese programs in North Carolina. She has created a thriving Japanese major from scratch, sent a record numbers of student abroad to Japan, involved her students with the greater Japanese community of Charlotte, secured an unprecedented number of grants for the Japanese program, and published her pedagogical successes in scholarly venues so that other instructors can benefit from her expertise.