Film director. He was hired by the Shochiku film studio and shot his first directed work Zange no Yaiba (Sword of Penitence) in 1927. In his early career he produced short sarcastic films, but shifted to a style of depicting people's everyday lives realistically such as in Umarete ha Mita Keredo (I Was Born, But...) in 1932, Deki Gokoro (Passing Fancy) in 1933 and Ukigusa Monogatari (A Story of Floating Weeds) in 1934. In the post-war period his works centered on the reality of Japanese family starting with the release of Banshun (Late Spring) in 1949, and he produced sad yet humorous films including Bakushu (Early Summer) in 1951, Tokyo Monogatari (Tokyo Story) in 1953 and Sanma no Aji (An Autumn Afternooon) in 1962. His unique filming style of a lower camera position for every shot of his films is internationally well recognized.