--- name: "Makoto Shinkai" canonical: "https://film.one/person/makoto-shinkai" fi1m_id: "makoto-shinkai" imdb_id: "nm1396121" tmdb_id: 74091 wikidata_id: "Q335080" roles: ["Director","Writer"] born: "9 February 1973" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 79 average_as: "director" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-17T17:07:19.242335+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Makoto Shinkai ## Identity Makoto Shinkai - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/makoto-shinkai - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** makoto-shinkai - **IMDb ID:** nm1396121 - **TMDB ID:** 74091 - **Wikidata ID:** Q335080 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makoto_Shinkai, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q335080, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1396121/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/74091 Director and writer. Born 9 February 1973 in Koumi, Nagano, Japan. ## Details - **Work:** Director, Writer - **Born:** 9 February 1973, Koumi, Nagano, Japan - **Active:** 2016–present - **Also known as:** Макото Шінкай, しんかい まこと, Makoto Niitsu, 新海 誠, Shinkai Makoto, Макото Ниицу, ماکوتو شینکای, มาโกโตะ ชินไค, 新津 誠, Makoto Şinkay, Niitsu Makoto, 新津誠 - **Frequently works with:** [Genki Kawamura](https://film.one/person/genki-kawamura.md), [Kōichirō Itō](https://film.one/person/koichiro-ito.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 79, as director, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 84 (1), 2020s 74 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makoto_Shinkai, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q335080, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1396121/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/74091 ## Streaming the US now - **HBO Max:** [*Your Name.*](https://film.one/film/your-name.md) (84) - **Crunchyroll:** [*Suzume*](https://film.one/film/suzume.md) (74) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Makoto Shinkai > Makoto Shinkai makes teenage longing convincing by taking ordinary places as seriously as the teenagers who inhabit them. We value his warmth and eye for light; his busy plots sometimes demand feelings the romances have not earned. Sunlight catches the leaves in hard white flares; rain makes tarmac shine. In *Suzume* (2022), Shinkai and cinematographer Ryosuke Tsuda give these passing sights as much care as the strange door standing in a deserted spa. That attention to familiar surroundings is central to why his fantasies work. We believe that these places matter before he puts them in danger. The self-produced science-fiction short *Voices of a Distant Star* (2002) established his reputation, and *5 Centimeters per Second* (2007) refined his interest in drifting relationships. In *Your Name.* (2016), that interest takes the form of a teenage body-swap romance. *Weathering with You* (2019) brings climate into another story of longing, while *Suzume* sends its heroine across Japan to shut doors that let earthquakes in. The scale has grown, but he still asks us to care first about a young person's feelings. In *Your Name.*, Shinkai lets Taki and Mitsuha be awkward in each other’s bodies before asking their feelings to support a larger mystery. As editor, he keeps the comic exchanges brisk, although he sometimes repeats a joke after it has done its work. Sharing the cinematography credit with Hitomi Fukuzawa, he makes the buildings and open skies worth watching in their own right. We felt unexpectedly wistful looking at those backgrounds, because their detail made ordinary surroundings seem worth missing. The music, with Yojiro Noda among its contributors, keeps things moving, though sometimes it urges us to feel more intensely than we need to. *Suzume* is crowded and its romance thin, but Shinkai finds a useful corrective to solemnity in Souta, the young man transformed into a three-legged chair. Hokuto Matsumura’s grave voice accompanies a piece of furniture that clatters downstairs and runs along a quayside; the comedy works because the performance refuses to make the joke for us. The earthquake warning on the characters’ phones is a different matter, a real alarm bringing the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011 into the fantasy. Shinkai’s fast cutting keeps the journey moving, sometimes before a scene has had time to settle. For a first encounter, choose *Your Name.* and be patient when the plot gets busy. ## Biography Makoto Shinkai is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, editor and novelist. Born Makoto Niitsu on 9 February 1973 in Koumi, Nagano, he studied Japanese literature at Chuo University. He began his career as a video game animator at Nihon Falcom in 1996. Recognition followed with the 1999 short *She and Her Cat*, after which he founded CoMix Wave Films. Early works include the 2002 OVA *Voices of a Distant Star* and the 2004 feature *The Place Promised in Our Early Days*. Shinkai is best known for the features *Your Name.* (2016), *Weathering with You* (2019) and *Suzume* (2022), on which he also served as editor. The films form part of a series frequently termed the “Disaster trilogy” and rank among Japan’s highest-grossing releases. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, en.shinkaiworks.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *Suzume* (2022), Fi1m 74, Director, Screenplay, Editor, Original Story, Storyboard Artist — [page](https://film.one/film/suzume.md) - *Your Name.* (2016), Fi1m 84, Original Story, Director, Editor, Screenplay, Storyboard Artist, Cinematography, Director of Photography — [page](https://film.one/film/your-name.md) ## Complete filmography (25) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *5 Centimeters per Second* (2025), Original Story - *Suzume* (2022), Director, Editor, Storyboard Artist, Screenplay, Original Story — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/suzume.md) - *Weathering with You* (2019), Director, Storyboard Artist, Editor, Writer, Original Story - *Your Name.* (2016), Director, Compositing Artist, Director of Photography, Editor, Storyboard Artist, Original Story, Screenplay — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/your-name.md) - *She and Her Cat: Everything Flows* (2016), as Chobi (voice) · Original Story - *She and Her Cat: Everything Flows* (2016), series, as Chobi (voice) · Original Story - *Cross Road* (2014), as Art Direction · Director, Director of Photography, Background Designer, Writer, Editor - *Right Places: Where I Was Meant to Be at That Time* (2013), Thanks - *The Garden of Words* (2013), Storyboard Artist, Director, Background Designer, Director of Photography, Editor, Color Designer, Original Story, Screenplay - *Someone's Gaze* (2013), Director, Editor, Writer, Director of Photography, Storyboard Artist - *Children Who Chase Lost Voices* (2011), Editor, Director, Producer, Storyboard Artist, Background Designer, Color Designer, Director of Photography, Screenplay, Original Story - *Ani*Kuri15* (2008), Director, Writer, Storyboard Artist, Color Designer, Director of Photography, Background Designer, Art Direction - *A Gathering of Cats* (2007), Director - *Ani*Kuri15* (2007), series, Director, Background Designer, Storyboard Artist, Director of Photography, Color Designer, Art Direction - *5 Centimeters per Second* (2007), Director, Background Designer, Color Designer, Character Designer, Storyboard Artist, Producer, Editor, Art Direction, Sound Director, Director of Photography, Screenplay, Original Story - *The Place Promised in Our Early Days* (2004), Editor, Director, Producer, Director of Photography, Color Designer, Background Designer, Art Designer, Sound Director, Screenplay, Original Story - *Wind: A Breath of Heart* (2004), series, CG Artist - *Smile* (2003), Director - *Wind: A Breath of Heart - Christmas Special* (2002), Opening/Ending Animation - *Voices of a Distant Star* (2002), as Noboru Terao (voice) · Director, Editor, Art Direction, Producer, Director of Photography, Storyboard Artist, Character Designer, Animation Director, Animation, Writer, Original Concept - *She and Her Cat* (1999), as Her Cat (voice) · Director, Editor, Director of Photography, Storyboard Artist, Art Direction, Producer, Animation, Screenplay - *Other Worlds* (1999), Director, Editor, Director of Photography, Animation, Writer - *Enclosed World* (1998), Editor, Director of Photography, Director, Screenplay, Writer - *Your Name*, Original Film Writer - *Untitled Makoto Shinkai Film*, Director, Writer ## Gallery - ![Makoto Shinkai presenting the movie Suzume at the Berlinale 2023](https://film.one/media/person/21298/gallery-78b7734c2bfe.jpg) Makoto Shinkai presenting the movie Suzume at the Berlinale 2023 — Martin Kraft, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/MKr26291_Makoto_Shinkai_%28Suzume%2C_Berlinale_2023%29.jpg/1280px-MKr26291_Makoto_Shinkai_%28Suzume%2C_Berlinale_2023%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Makoto Shinkai presenting the movie Suzume at the Berlinale 2023](https://film.one/media/person/21298/gallery-87659cc61b71.jpg) Makoto Shinkai presenting the movie Suzume at the Berlinale 2023 — Martin Kraft, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/MKr26312_Makoto_Shinkai_%28Suzume%2C_Berlinale_2023%29.jpg/1280px-MKr26312_Makoto_Shinkai_%28Suzume%2C_Berlinale_2023%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Makoto Shinkai](https://film.one/media/person/21298/gallery-434aa5af4eef.jpg) Makoto Shinkai — Elena Ternovaja, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/Makoto_Shinkai%2C_2023.jpg/1280px-Makoto_Shinkai%2C_2023.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Makoto Shinkai and Nanoka Hara at Berlinale 2023](https://film.one/media/person/21298/gallery-980024e99633.jpg) Makoto Shinkai and Nanoka Hara at Berlinale 2023 — Elena Ternovaja, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Makoto_Shinkai_and_Nanoka_Hara%2C_Berlinale_2023.jpg/1280px-Makoto_Shinkai_and_Nanoka_Hara%2C_Berlinale_2023.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Makoto Shinkai](https://film.one/media/person/21298/gallery-d9b6a4627b13.jpg) Makoto Shinkai — Image via TMDB - ![Makoto Shinkai](https://film.one/media/person/21298/gallery-12462ad5f4ce.jpg) Makoto Shinkai — Image via TMDB - ![Makoto Shinkai at Otakon 2011, on July 29, 2011](https://film.one/media/person/21298/gallery-01500b748601.jpg) Makoto Shinkai at Otakon 2011, on July 29, 2011 — linkington, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Makoto_Shinkai_at_Otakon_2011.jpg/1280px-Makoto_Shinkai_at_Otakon_2011.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) ## Awards ### Other awards — 1 won - Nikkan Sports Film Award for Best Director 2016: Nikkan Sports Film Award for Best Director (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/makoto-shinkai