Makoto Shinkai

Makoto Shinkai

Personal Info

  • Known for

    Directing

  • Gender

    Male

  • Birthday

    1973-02-09 (52 years old)

  • Place of Birth

    Koumi, Japan

Biography

Makoto Niitsu (新津 誠, Niitsu Makoto), known as Makoto Shinkai (新海 誠, Shinkai Makoto) is a Japanese animation director, author, and manga artist. 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). Beginning his longstanding association with CoMix Wave Films, Shinkai then released the science-fiction OVA Voices of a Distant Star in 2002, and followed this with his debut feature film The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004). Shinkai's second feature film, the romantic drama anthology 5 Centimeters per Second (2007), gained critical acclaim, as did his subsequent releases, the dramas Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011) and The Garden of Words (2013). Shinkai's 2016 fantasy romance Your Name was a critical and commercial success, becoming the third highest-grossing anime film of all time. His 2019 film, Weathering with You, also achieved similar critical and commercial success. His seventh film, Suzume, was released in Japan in November 2022.

Known For

Acting

Crew

  • Your Name

    Original Film Writer

  • (2025)

  • (2025)

  • (2022)

    Suzume

    Director, Editor, Screenplay, Storyboard Artist, Original Story

  • (2019)

    Weathering with You

    Director, Storyboard Artist, Editor, Original Story, Screenplay

  • (2016)

    Your Name.

    Director, Compositing Artist, Director of Photography, Editor, Storyboard Artist, Screenplay, Original Story

  • (2016)

  • (2014)

    Cross Road

    Art Direction, Director, Director of Photography, Cinematography, Background Designer, Writer, Editor

  • (2013)

    The Garden of Words

    Storyboard Artist, Director, Background Designer, Director of Photography, Color Designer, Editor, Original Story, Screenplay

  • (2013)

    Someone's Gaze

    Director, Writer, Editor, Director of Photography, Storyboard Artist

  • (2013)

  • (2011)

    Children Who Chase Lost Voices

    Director, Screenplay, Producer, Editor, Storyboard Artist, Background Designer, Color Designer, Director of Photography, Original Story

  • (2008)

    Ani*Kuri15

    Director, Writer, Director of Photography, Color Designer, Storyboard Artist, Background Designer, Art Direction

  • (2007)

    5 Centimeters per Second

    Director, Background Designer, Color Designer, Original Story, Character Designer, Storyboard Artist, Producer, Editor, Art Direction, Screenplay, Director of Photography, Sound Director

  • (2004)

    The Place Promised in Our Early Days

    Director, Screenplay, Producer, Director of Photography, Editor, Art Designer, Background Designer, Color Designer, Sound Director, Original Story

  • (2003)

    Smile

    Director

  • (2002)

    Voices of a Distant Star

    Director, Producer, Editor, Art Direction, Director of Photography, Character Designer, Storyboard Artist, Animation Director, Animation, Original Story, Screenplay

  • (2002)

  • (1999)

    She and Her Cat

    Director, Editor, Storyboard Artist, Director of Photography, Producer, Art Direction, Animation, Screenplay

  • (1999)

    Other Worlds

    Director, Editor, Cinematography, Director of Photography, Animation, Writer

  • (1998)

    Enclosed World

    Editor, Cinematography, Director of Photography, Director, Screenplay, Writer