Takatsuki, Osaka
Makihara was born on 18 May 1969 in Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan. He attended Aoyama Gakuin University to study English literature. In addition to creating songs for his own music career, he has written, produced and performed songs for many other artists, the most notable being SMAP's "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana". He is ranked at No.84, in a list of Japan's top 100 musicians, provided by HMV.He was also invited to write the song "The Gift" for English band blue in their album "Guilty".