Makoto Shinkai (新海 誠, Shinkai Makoto, born Makoto Niitsu (新津 誠, Niitsu Makoto), February 9, 1973) is a Japanese animator, filmmaker and manga artist best known for directing Your Name, the highest-grossing anime film of all time at the time of release and 2019's Weathering With You. He was listed by Variety as one of 10 animators to watch in 2016.
A native of Nagano Prefecture, Shinkai studied Japanese literature at Chuo University, where he was a member of the juvenile literature club and drew picture books. He traces his passion for creation to the manga, anime and novels he was exposed to in middle school. His favorite anime films are Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Nausicaä and The Castle of Cagliostro by Hayao Miyazaki, The End of Evangelion by Hideaki Anno and Patlabor 2 by Mamoru Oshii.
Shinkai has been called "The New Miyazaki" in several reviews, including those by Anime Advocates and ActiveAnime—comparisons he calls an "overestimation".