Tokyo College of Music
Makino took up piano at the age of four. Her talent for playing piano was discovered by the film director Shunji Iwai when she was seven years old and from the age of 8 to 17, she played piano solos for three of his films: "Love Letter", "All About Lily Chou-Chou" and "Hana and Alice". She graduated from Tokyo College of Music as piano major with the top score in her senior year.