Miki Miura (三浦美紀, Miura Miki), known professionally as Momoko Sakura (さくら ももこ, Sakura Momoko) (May 8, 1965 – August 15…Miki Miura (三浦美紀, Miura Miki), known professionally as Momoko Sakura (さくら ももこ, Sakura Momoko) (May 8, 1965 – August 15, 2018) was a Japanese manga artist and writer. She was best known as the creator of the long-running manga Chibi Maruko-chan.
Masato Harada (原田 眞人, Harada Masato; July 3, 1949 – December 8, 2025) was a Japanese film director, screenwriter…Masato Harada (原田 眞人, Harada Masato; July 3, 1949 – December 8, 2025) was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, critic and occasional actor. He was nominated five times for the Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Director, among other accolades.
Gisaburō Sugii (杉井ギサブロー or 杉井儀三郎, Sugii Gisaburō; born August 20, 1940) is a Japanese anime director and Nihonga…Gisaburō Sugii (杉井ギサブロー or 杉井儀三郎, Sugii Gisaburō; born August 20, 1940) is a Japanese anime director and Nihonga artist. He is best known for his work as director of the Touch series, the movie adaptation of the Arashi no Yoru ni children's book series, and the movie Night on the Galactic Railroad. He is a member of the Directors Guild of Japan and the Japanese Animation Creators Association.
Keisuke Kinoshita (木下 惠介, Kinoshita Keisuke; December 5, 1912 – December 30, 1998) was a Japanese film director and…Keisuke Kinoshita (木下 惠介, Kinoshita Keisuke; December 5, 1912 – December 30, 1998) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujirō Ozu, he was a household figure in his home country, beloved by both critics and audiences from the 1940s to the 1960s. Kinoshita's films were marked by a sense of sentimentality, purity, and beauty, and often featured experimentation in both technique and subject matter. Kinoshita entered the film industry in 1933 as a film processor. He moved on to the position of camera assistant, then assistant director. In 1943, Kinoshita was promoted to director and released his first film, Port of Flowers. A prolific filmmaker, Kinoshita directed 43 films in the first 23 years of his career, and then five more after a stint in television production. Among his best known films are Carmen Comes Home (1951), A Japanese Tragedy (1953), Twenty-Four Eyes (1954), She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum (1955) and The Ballad of Narayama (1958).
