In 1985, before graduating from Keio University, Makiko Nagao joined Studio Lotus, an independent animation studio of Renzo and Sayoko Kinoshita. Since then, as secretary to Sayoko, she is mainly working for production, dissemination, program curation, copyrights management for animation shorts. She has been working for numerous animation programs aimed for film festivals, art museums, TV stations, etc., internationally.

As for Studio Lotus films, Makiko has been in charge of disseminating representative films including “Pica-Don”, and also, production management of many independent shorts such as “Geba Geba Show Time” (1986), “Frame of Mind” (1988), “The Last Air Raid – Kumagaya” (1993, permanent screening at the Peace Museum of Saitama), “A Little Journey” (1994, granted Japan Arts Fund), “Ryukyu Okoku – Made in Okinawa” (2004, granted Japan Arts Fund), etc.

As for the development of animation field, she had dedicated herself to the overall operation of the Hiroshima International Animation Festival, from its first edition in 1985 till 2020, as secretary to the Festival Director Sayoko. Served as the Project Team member since 1990, mainly assisting the planning and production of screening programs and exhibitions, and also, the Organizing Committee member since 2013. Selection Committee member of the 17th festival (2018) and the 18th festival (2020).

Since 1997, serving as the Secretary General of ASIFA-JAPAN. Also running ASIFA-JAPAN’s “International Animation Day in Japan” every year, since 2005.

As for theoretical research, Makiko has been studying the concept of documentary, and animation as a medium for documentary. Since 2014, she studied under Professor Atsushi Sugita at the Graduate School of Joshibi University of Art and Design, and received a Ph.D. in Fine Art in 2020, with a thesis “Rethinking Documentary through Animation”.
As monographs, “A Possibility of Documentation in Animation: Reviewing Studies on Animated Documentary“ (Bulletin of Joshibi Univ., No. 47, 2017), “A Potential Possibility of Animation Presenting a ‘General Description of an Event’: A Comparative Study of Animation and Other Representational Media“ (Bulletin of Joshibi Univ., No.48, 2018), and “The possibility of documentation through animation: A comparative study of the animation short Pica-Don and artworks addressing social/historical Issues” (Animation Practice, Process & Production, vol. 7 - 1, UK, 2019).
Also, a presentation at International Conference ‘Animation and Memory’ held at Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands (2017), and as a research report, “Hiroshima International Animation Festival: the History of 36 Years Based on the Spirit of ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation) and Practices by Sayoko Kinoshita” (Bulletin of Joshibi Univ., No. 52, 2022).
Member of Society of Animation Studies (SAS), and Japan Society of Animation Studies (JSAS).