Makoto Shinkai is a Japanese director, writer, producer, animator, editor, cinematographer, voice actor, manga artist and former graphic designer.

Shinkai studied Japanese literature at Chuo University where he was a member of juvenile literature club where he drew picture books. In 1999, Shinkai released She and Her Cat, a five-minute short piece done in monochrome.

His best knows films are The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004), 5 Centimeters Per Second (2007), Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011), The Garden of Words (2013), and Your Name (2016).

His favorite anime is Castle in the Sky (1986) by Hayao Miyazaki.