(born December 24, 1961) is a Japanese

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

. She is best known for writing

Japanese television drama , also called , are television programs that are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, jidaigeki, thriller ...

s, notably ''

Long Vacation ''Long Vacation'' (, also known as ) is a Japanese television drama series from Fuji Television, first shown in Japan from 15 April to 24 June 1996. The show's high ratings in Japan made Takuya Kimura popular in the Asia-Pacific region and is k ...

'' (1996), '' Beautiful Life'' (2000), '' Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi'' (2002), and ''

Orange Days Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower * Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum ...

'' (2004). In 2009, Kitagawa made her directorial debut in the

coming-of-age film Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

''Halfway'', which she also wrote and co-

edited Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

. She then wrote and directed the 2012 film ''I Have to Buy New Shoes'', a contemporary

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

set in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Both films were produced by her friend

Shunji Iwai is a Japanese film director, video artist, writer and documentary maker. Life and career Iwai was born in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. He attended Yokohama National University, graduating in 1987. In 1988 he started out in the Japanese entertainment ...

, and Kitagawa appeared in his 2011 documentary ''Friends after 3.11'', which explores the aftermath of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

Filmography

*''I Have to Buy New Shoes'' (2012)

Television series

*''Yonimo Kimyona Monogatari'' ("Tales of the Unusual") (Fuji TV, 1991–1996) **すみません、握手してください (1996) **隣の声 (1993) **午前3時のノック (1991) **もう一人の花嫁 (1991) **昔みたい (1990) **佐藤・求む (1991) (co-written) **「三日間だけのエース (1991) **未来の思い出 (1991) **大蒜（にんにく） (1991) **つまらない男 (1991) **伝言板 (1991) **ズンドコベロンチョ (1991) **忘れられたメス (1991) *''Panasonic Special'' もっと、ときめきを－ふたりまでの距離－ (Nippon TV, 1992) *ぼくが医者をやめた理由 (TV Tokyo, 1990) (co-written) *''Sugao no Mama de'' ("Just the Way We Are") (Fuji TV, 1992) *''Sono Toki, Heart wa Nusumareta'' ("Who Stole My Heart") (Fuji TV, 1992) *''Chance!'' (Fuji TV, 1993) (episodes 1, 4, 7, 10, 12) *''Asunaro Hakusho'' (Fuji TV, 1993) *''Kimi to Ita Natsu'' ("A Summer With You") (Fuji TV, 1994) *'' Aishiteiru to Itte Kure'' ("Tell Me You Love Me") (TBS, 1995) *''

'' (Fuji TV, 1996) *''Saigo no Koi'' ("A Forever Love") (TBS, 1997) *''Over Time'' (Fuji TV, 1999) *'' Beautiful Life'' (TBS, 2000) *''Love Story'' (TBS, 2001) *'' Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi'' ("A Million Stars Falling from the Sky") (Fuji TV, 2002) *''

'' (TBS, 2004) *''

Tatta Hitotsu no Koi
-

Nippon TV ...

'' ("Just One Love") (NTV, 2006) *''

Heaven's Postman ''Heaven's Postman'', also known as ''Postman to Heaven'' (; ) is a 2009 South Korean-Japanese film starring Kim Jaejoong and Han Hyo-joo. A young CEO quits his job and becomes a kind of supernatural postman, delivering letters from grieving fami ...

'' (SBS/TV Asahi, 2010) *''

Sunao ni Narenakute (''Hard to Say I Love You'') was a Japanese television drama on Fuji TV which aired from April 15, 2010 to June 24, 2010. Plot This is a story about the blossoming friendship of five young people who were brought together by Twitter, and the ...

'' ("Hard to Say I Love You") (Fuji TV, 2010) *''Okaasan no Saigo no Ichinichi'' (TV Asahi, 2010) *''Irodori Himura'' (TBS, 2012) *''

Hanbun, Aoi is a Japanese television drama series and the 98th Asadora series, following ''Warotenka''. It premiered on April 2, 2018, and concluded on September 29, 2018. Mei Nagano was cast in the lead role of Suzume Nireno after an audition of 2366 wome ...

'' (NHK, 2018)

Theater

* 彼女の言うことには。 (2012)

Awards

*1995 6th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Screenwriter ('' Aishiteiru to Itte Kure'') *1996 9th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Screenwriter (''

'') *2000 24th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Screenwriter ('' Beautiful Life'') *2002 33rd Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Screenwriter ('' Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi'') *2004 41st Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Screenwriter (''

'')

References

External links