Born in 1969 in Nara, Japan, Naomi Kawase studied film at the Osaka School of Photography. After she graduated in 1989, she lectured there for 4 years, before releasing the documentary Embracing (1992) about her search for the father who abandoned her as a child, followed by Katatsumori (1994), about the grandmother who raised her. In 1997, Kawase became the youngest person to ever win the Caméra d’Or (for best debut feature film) at the 50th Cannes Film Festival, for her film Moe no suzaku.