Japanese Screenwriter Makiko Uchidate Dies at 77

Tokyo, Dec. 26 (Jiji Press)--Japanese screenwriter Makiko Uchidate, known for writing scripts for many television drama series in the country, died of acute left-side heart failure at a hospital in Tokyo on Dec. 17. She was 77.

Uchidate was born in Akita Prefecture, northeastern Japan, in 1948. After graduating from Musashino Art University in Tokyo, she started her career as a screenwriter in 1988.

In 1993, she received an award for her screenwriting for "Hirari," a TV drama series about a girl who loves sumo.

Her works also included samurai drama series "Mori Motonari." She was also known as a writer of bestselling novels.

From 2000 to 2010, she served as the first-ever female member of a panel to assess yokozuna, the highest rank in professional sumo.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]