Genki Kawamura
Birthdate: Mar 2, 1979
Birthplace: Yokohama, Japan
Genki Kawamura is an eclectic Japanese filmmaker who has worked in live-action and animation features (particularly with the crème of Japanese anime auteurs), as well as being the author of his best-selling debut novel, If Cats Disappeared from the World. Kawamura made his feature directorial debut with the drama, A Hundred Flowers (2022), which Kawamura produced and adapted as co-writer (with Kentaro Hirase) from his 2021 novel, starring Mieko Harada, Yuka Itaya, Misuzu Kanno, and Yumi Kawai, and earning a worldwide $2.1 million gross after premiering in competition at the Donostia-San Sebastian Film Festival.
Kawamura returned as director/co-writer (again with Hirase)/producer of the psychological horror movie, Exit 8 (2025), based on Kotake Create’s 2023 video game, co-starring Kazunari Ninomiya, Yamato Kochi, Naru Asanuma, Kotone Hanase, and Nana Komatsu, and released widely in North America by Toho after premiering in the Midnight Section of the Cannes Film Festival and opening theatrically via Toho in Japan in 2025 to a $39 million return. Kawamura was a writer and/or producer of several notable anime features, including (as writer) Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s New Dinosaur (2020), and (as producer) Mamoru Hosoda’s The Boy and the Beast (2015), Makoto Shinkai’s body-swapping drama Your Name. (2016), Mirai’s impressive Mirai (2018), Shinkai’s acclaimed Weathering With You (2019), Tatsuyuki Nagai’s Toho-backed anime Her Blue Sky (2019), Hosoda’s award-winning anime Belle (2021), Tetsuro Araki’s Bubble (2022), Shinkai’s stunning anime adventure Suzume (2022), Naoko Yamada’s roundly acclaimed The Colors Within (2024) and Nagai’s telepathy-themed Fureru (2024).
Kawamura, as a producer, also backed several significant live-action features, including director/co-writer Tetsuya Nakashima’s thriller, Confessions (2010); director/co-writer Lee Sang-il’s crime drama, Villain (2010); director/co-writer Nakashima’s wild horror movie, It Comes (2018); and Hirokazu Koreeda’s Cannes-winning drama, Monster (2023). Kawamura also adapted his novel Million Dollar Man (2018) as a solo screenwriter, starring Tatsuya Fujiwara under Keishi Otomo’s direction.
Personal life
Genki Kawamura was born and raised in Yokohama, Japan, by his parents.
Facts About Genki Kawamura
Inspiration: Genki Kawamura, while rising through the ranks of the Japanese animation industry, shifted to writing novels after being inspired by his grandmother’s experience with Alzheimer’s.
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