Mari Asato is a Japanese film director born in Okinawa on March 14, 1976. Primarily known for the film Ju-On: Black Ghost (2009) as part of The Grudge film instalments. Other films include the politically undertoned Samurai Chicks (Dokuritsu Shôjo Gurentai) (2004), the cinematic rendition Boy From Hell (2004), Twilight Syndrome: Dead Go Round (2008), Ring of Curse (2011), Bilocation (2012), and Fatal Frame (2014).

Mari Asato began her career as a photographer working as an apprentice under Kiyoshi Kurosawa during the filming of Barren Illusions in 1999. A few years later she worked under Hiroshi Takahashi as an assistant director on the production of Sodom the Killer (2004). It was after this time Asato began directing her own films, mostly contributing to already well-known horror franchises. In 2011, she entered her most successful and active phase of film-making, continuously releasing sequels and feature films.

[Source: Wikipedia]