Ippei has been involved in educational cooperation for more than 20 years. He began his career in 1997 as a secondary school teacher in rural Zimbabwe with the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer program. Since completing a Master’s degree in Education at Hiroshima University, Ippei has held various long-term educational cooperation posts with JICA. In Kenya he formulated and evaluated education projects in the South Eastern African region. In Nigeria and Ethiopia he managed JICA projects aimed at mainstreaming in-service teacher training programs. Since 2016, he has been working to support curriculum reform and GPE grant-making in Papua New Guinea.