Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, he is married to Mei Okuyama (奥山 芽以), a jewelry artist and the niece of acclaimed anime director Hayao Miyazaki. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York, he left Pixar to focus on independent animation. In 2014, he co-directed The Dam Keeper which was nominated for an Oscar for short animated film. He most recently directed the short film Bottle George, based on the original story by Akihiro Nishino, which premiered at the 2024 San Francisco International Film Festival.