Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan | 1957-07-11

Born in 1957, Japan. He studied in the Department of Arts of the Yokohama Movie and Broadcasting College. In 1993 he branched out into film, and his movie All Under the Moon(1993) won the prize for Best Screenplay in the Mainichi Film Competition and the Kinema Junpo Award for Best Screenplay. He won several awards for his movie Begging for Love(1998), including the Japan Academy Prize for Best Screenplay, and the First Asia-Pacific Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay. He also won the 2001 National Arts Festival Grand Prize for his TV drama I'll Be Eighteen Tomorrow(2001), and published a collection of essays Andreas's Hat(1995). In 2008, his Japan-South Korea joint production the play Yakiniku Dragon was staged in Tokyo and Seoul.