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Director Makoto Shinkai Denies Alleged Affair With Editor

The Nikkan Sports newspaper alleged in a report on Tuesday that director Makoto Shinkai (5 Centimeters Per Second, your name.) had an affair with an editor. The newspaper cites "multiple concerned parties" as the sources for the report.

Shinkai denied the claim on his official Twitter account the same morning. He acknowledged eating with the other party, but emphasized that there is "no truth at all" to the claim of an affair. In a later post, he expressed surprise that anyone would be interested in his private life, and that his actions invited misunderstanding. He said that his job is to make good movies, and he is currently focused on his next work.

According to Nikkan Sports, the editor is in her early 30s. The newspaper asserted that Shinkai met the editor through a mutual friend in spring of 2016, and that their relationship deepened sometime in fall 2016, after the release of Shinkai's hit film your name..

Shinkai is married to Mika Shinohara, who voiced roles in Shinkai's earlier short anime, such as She and Her Cat and Voices of a Distant Star. Shinkai himself also voiced roles in these shorts.

Shinkai recently directed the film your name., which opened in Japan last August, and has become the fourth highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, the second highest-grossing Japanese film, and the second highest-grossing anime film. As of June 4, has earned a cumulative 24.94 billion yen (about US$226 million). The film is still screening in some theaters in Japan. The film opened in 92 countries and territories around the world, including the United States through Funimation on April 7.

Nikkan Sports awarded Shinkai the Best Director award in its Nikkan Sports Movie Award in December.

Source: Nikkan Sports via Livedoor News, Hachima Kikō