Hikari was born in Osaka, Japan, and studied film and television production at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Her graduation project, the short film Tsuyako (2011), was screened at more than 100 film festivals around the world, and received numerous awards. A Better Tomorrow (2013) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Her short film Where We Begin (2015) was nominated for the Jury Award for Best Narrative Short at the Tribeca Film Festival, and won several international prizes. Most recently, her feature film 37 Seconds (2019) received the Audience Award and the CICAE Art Cinema Award in the Panorama section of the 69th Berlinale.
