Makoto Niitsu (新津 誠, Niitsu Makoto; born February 9, 1973), known as Makoto Shinkai (新海 誠, Shinkai Makoto), is a…
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. A founder of CoMix Wave Films, he is known for his anime feature films enriched with visually-appealing animation and romantic stories depicting teenagers and high school students. 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 his Disaster Trilogy, are all among the highest-grossing Japanese films of all time, both in Japan and worldwide at the time of their release.
Famous People from Nagano Prefecture
Nagano Prefecture: 12 people
Yasuo Tanaka (田中 康夫, Tanaka Yasuo; born 12 April 1956) is a Japanese novelist and politician. He served as the governor…
Yasuo Tanaka (田中 康夫, Tanaka Yasuo; born 12 April 1956) is a Japanese novelist and politician. He served as the governor of Nagano Prefecture from 2000 to 2006, became president of New Party Nippon, and has been elected to Japan's legislatures.
Naoki Inose (猪瀬 直樹, Inose Naoki; born 20 November 1946) is a Japanese politician, journalist, historian, social critic…
Naoki Inose (猪瀬 直樹, Inose Naoki; born 20 November 1946) is a Japanese politician, journalist, historian, social critic and biographer of literary figures such as Yukio Mishima and Osamu Dazai. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Tokyo from June 2007 until becoming Acting Governor on 1 November 2012 following the resignation of Shintaro Ishihara. He was elected Governor in a historical landslide victory in December 2012, but announced his resignation on December 19, 2013, following a political funds-related scandal; his resignation was approved and became effective December 24, 2013.
Rio Kishida (岸田 理生, Kishida Rio; 1946–2003) was a Japanese playwright and director. She wrote several plays about women…
Rio Kishida (岸田 理生, Kishida Rio; 1946–2003) was a Japanese playwright and director. She wrote several plays about women and the problems they faced in a patriarchal society that run parallel with the second wave of the feminist movement in Japan. Even though she did not strictly identify herself as a feminist, she believed that the system of a male dominated society had to change in order for women to gain equal rights as their male counterpart.
Kenji Maruyama (丸山 健二, Maruyama Kenji; born December 23, 1943) is a Japanese author. He received the Akutagawa Prize…
Kenji Maruyama (丸山 健二, Maruyama Kenji; born December 23, 1943) is a Japanese author. He received the Akutagawa Prize for one of his novels, Summer’s Passage (夏の流れ, Natsu no nagare), in 1966, at the age of 23, becoming the third of an often touted group of college seniors to win the prize at age 23, following Ishihara Shintaro and Oe Kenzaburo.
Masuo Ikeda (池田 満寿夫, Ikeda Masuo; February 23, 1934 – March 8, 1997) was a Japanese painter, printmaker, illustrator…
Masuo Ikeda (池田 満寿夫, Ikeda Masuo; February 23, 1934 – March 8, 1997) was a Japanese painter, printmaker, illustrator, sculptor, ceramist, novelist, and film director from Nagano Prefecture.
Katsuichi Honda (Japanese: 本多 勝一, Hepburn: Honda Katsuichi; born January 28, 1932) is a Japanese journalist and author…
Katsuichi Honda (Japanese: 本多 勝一, Hepburn: Honda Katsuichi; born January 28, 1932) is a Japanese journalist and author most famous for his writing on the Nanjing Massacre. During the 1970s he wrote a series of articles on the atrocities committed by Imperial Japanese soldiers during World War II called "Chūgoku no Tabi" (中国の旅, "Travels in China"). The series first appeared in the Asahi Shimbun. Honda also worked as a war correspondent in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, an experience which, according to some historians, contributed to stoking his interest in Japanese wartime history.
Taiko Hirabayashi (平林 たい子, Hirabayashi Taiko; 3 October 1905 – 17 February 1972) was the pen-name of a Japanese writer.…
Taiko Hirabayashi (平林 たい子, Hirabayashi Taiko; 3 October 1905 – 17 February 1972) was the pen-name of a Japanese writer. Her real name was Hirabayashi Tai.
Yoshimi Usui (臼井 吉見, Usui Yoshimi; June 17, 1905 – July 12, 1987) was a Japanese writer and critic from Azumino, Nagano…
Yoshimi Usui (臼井 吉見, Usui Yoshimi; June 17, 1905 – July 12, 1987) was a Japanese writer and critic from Azumino, Nagano prefecture. Usui won the 1974 10th Tanizaki Prize for Azumino (安曇野). In 1977 he published a novelised account of Kawabata's death that led to a lawsuit against him by the Nobel Prize-winner's family.
Takeo Takei (武井 武雄, Takei Takeo; 25 June 1894 – 7 February 1983) was a Japanese painter and puppet maker best known for…
Takeo Takei (武井 武雄, Takei Takeo; 25 June 1894 – 7 February 1983) was a Japanese painter and puppet maker best known for his illustrations for children. Takeo Takei is among Japan's most influential children's illustrators of the twentieth century. He was one of the first to create high-quality illustrations for children and was an early advocate of making artwork that respected and nurtured a child's imagination. Nearly one hundred years after his work was first published, his influence in illustration, manga, animation, graphic design, computer game character and even advertising is as strong as ever.
Masao Kume (久米 正雄, Kume Masao; 23 November 1891 – 1 March 1952) was a Japanese popular playwright, novelist and haiku…
Masao Kume (久米 正雄, Kume Masao; 23 November 1891 – 1 March 1952) was a Japanese popular playwright, novelist and haiku poet (under the pen-name of Santei) active during the late Taishō and early Shōwa periods of Japan. His wife and the wife of Nagai Tatsuo were sisters, making them brothers-in-law.
Kinoshita Naoe (木下 尚江, Kinoshita Naoe; 12 October 1869 – 5 November 1937) was a Japanese Christian socialist activist…
Kinoshita Naoe (木下 尚江, Kinoshita Naoe; 12 October 1869 – 5 November 1937) was a Japanese Christian socialist activist and author.