Born in 1991 on a small island in the Seto Inland Sea, Ehime, Japan. During her college years in Kyoto, she went on an exchange program to the Rhode Island School of Design, where she discovered independent animation. After completing her graduate studies at the Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts, she made her graduation film Chromosome Sweetheart (2017), which received the KuanDog Prize at the KuanDu International Animation Festival and was selected for Frameline41, among other festivals. Her film A Bite of Bone (2021) received the Grand Prize for Short Animation at the 45th Ottawa International Animation Festival, Best Short Animation at the 29th Raindance Film Festival, the New Face Award at the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival Animation Division, and 28 other awards internationally.
Alongside her filmmaking practice, she researches sexuality and gender in animation and curates screening programs focused on queer animation. She is currently enrolled in the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts. She is a co-author of Queer Cinema Studies (edited by Yuka Kanno, Koyo Shobo). Her client work includes the ending animation for the TV anime TRIGUN STAMPEDE, Sayonara no Mukō ni for NHK’s Minna no Uta (sung by Kōhei Matsushita), and the music video Hadaka no Yume for Bialystocks. Her latest film, Eri (2026), is a short animation co-produced by Au Praxinoscope (Japan) and MIYU Productions (France), adapted from Kasumi Asakura’s novel Who Else Is There? (Gentosha Inc., 2008).
2013 A Wild Pants Chase / パンツをめぐる冒険 2014 The Scab Pig / かさぶた 2016 Milky Ways / 牛乳の麓 2017 Chromosome Sweetheart / 染色体の恋人 Frameline41, Official Selection The KuanDu International Animation Festival 2017, KuanDog Prize BFI Player, Queer East Shorts 2021 A Bite of Bone / 骨嚙み The 45th Ottawa International Animation Festival, Grand Prize for Short Animation Best Short Animation, 29th Raindance Film Festival, UK Prix du Public, Paris International Animation Film Festival, France 2026 Eri / エリ
Selected Activities / 主な活動
2019 Organized queer animation screening program “201Q”, Tokyo University of the Arts クィア・アニメーション上映会「201Q」主宰、東京藝術大学 2021 Selection Committee Member & Queer Animation Curator, 1st Hiroshima Animation Season 第1回ひろしまアニメーションシーズンズ選考委員・クィア・アニメーションキュレーション 2022 Selected, Agency for Cultural Affairs Media Arts Creator Development Support Program 文化庁メディア芸術クリエーター育成支援事業採択 2023 Selection Committee Member & Queer Animation Curator, 2nd Hiroshima Animation Season 第2回ひろしまアニメーションシーズンズ選考委員・クィア・アニメーションキュレーション 2023 International Jury Member, 10th New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival 第10回新千歳空港国際アニメーション映画祭、国際審査員 2023 Selection Committee Member, 2nd Niigata International Animation Film Festival 第2回新潟国際アニメーション映画祭選考委員 2024 Selection Committee Member, 3rd Niigata International Animation Film Festival 第3回新潟国際アニメーション映画祭選考委員 2024 Jury Member, Feature Animation, 49th Ottawa International Animation Festival 第49回オタワ国際アニメーション映画祭、長編アニメーション部門審査員 2025 Selected Artist, New Way, New World: Program for Connecting Japanese Animators to the World 2025 EU-Japan Animation Residency, Osaka EXPO 大阪万博EU-日本アニメーションレジデンシー 2026 Instructor, “Naname na Gakko” (Oblique School), Chiba Media Art Project 講師、「ななめな学校」、千葉市／Chiba Media Art Project
Selected Exhibitions / 主な展示
2020 Before Light In The Motion, IOMA Art Center, 798 Art District Beijing, China 「光影之前」北京798艺术区、中国 2022 continuum: Independent animation from Japan and Australia, The Japan Foundation, Sydney, Australia 国際交流基金シドニー、オーストラリア 2022 25th Japan Media Arts Festival Award-winning Works Exhibition, National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Tokyo 第25回文化庁メディア芸術祭受賞作品展、日本科学未来館、東京 2023 Dozens of Norths and Three Short Films, Au Praxinoscope GALLERY, Tokyo 「『幾多の北』と三つの短編 原画・版画展」Au Praxinoscope GALLERY、東京
Teaching & Positions / 職歴
2017–2020 Research Assistant, Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts 教育研究助手、東京藝術大学大学院映像研究科 2021– Designated Assistant Professor, Institutes of Innovation for Future Society, Nagoya University 特任助教、名古屋大学未来社会創造機構モビリティ社会研究所 2021–2022 Part-time Lecturer, Joshibi University of Art and Design 非常勤講師、女子美術大学 2023– Part-time Lecturer, Kyoto Seika University, Faculty of Art 非常勤講師、京都精華大学芸術学部
