Makoto Shinkai

Makoto Shinkai
新海 誠
Born
Makoto Niitsu

(1973-02-09) February 9, 1973
Koumi, Japan
EducationChuo University
Occupations
Years active1996–present
Known forYour Name (2016)
Weathering with You (2019)
Suzume (2022)
SpouseChieko Misaka
ChildrenChise Niitsu
Japanese name
Kanji新海 誠
Kanaしんかい まこと
Transcriptions
RomanizationShinkai Makoto
Websiteshinkaiworks.com
Signature

Makoto Niitsu (新津 誠, Niitsu Makoto, born February 9, 1973), known as Makoto Shinkai (新海 誠, Shinkai Makoto), is a Japanese filmmaker and novelist. He is known for his anime feature films produced with CoMix Wave Films.

Shinkai began his career as a video game animator with Nihon Falcom in 1996, and gained recognition as a filmmaker with the release of the original video animation (OVA) She and Her Cat (1999). Shinkai then released the science fiction OVA Voices of a Distant Star in 2002 as his first feature with CoMix Wave, followed by his debut feature film The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004).

Shinkai's films have consistently received highly positive reviews from both critics and audiences, and he is considered to be one of Japan's most commercially successful filmmakers. His three most recent films Your Name (2016), Weathering with You (2019), and Suzume (2022), collectively known as the "Disaster trilogy", are all among the highest-grossing Japanese films of all time, both in Japan and worldwide at the time of their release.