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 [#i_]All Under the Moon[_i#](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 [#i_]Begging for Love[_i#](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 [#i_]Tomorrow[_i#](2001), and published a collection of essays [#i_]Andreas´s Hat[_i#](1995). In 2008, his Japan-South Korea joint production the play [#i_]Yakiniku Dragon [_i#]was staged in Tokyo and Seoul.