Biography
Masako Sato (also credited as Masako Satou or Masako Satō) is a Japanese animator, storyboard artist and director. She began her career at Studio Ghibli as an in-betweener and key animator on films including Spirited Away (2001), Howl's Moving Castle (2004), Ponyo (2008) and The Secret World of Arrietty (2010). She later worked as a freelancer, taking on storyboarding and episode direction roles before moving into series direction.
Sato has directed episodes of Haikyu!! (2014–2020) and served as series director for Haikyu!! To the Top (2020). Her other directorial credits include Golden Time (2013), Anima Yell! (2018), Welcome to the Ballroom (2017), Run with the Wind (2018) and My Senpai Is Annoying (2021). She has also worked as series director on TRIGUN STAMPEDE (2023) and Trigun Stargaze (2026).
