He left Nikkatsu after making "Watashi ga suteta onna" (The Girl I Abandoned), an attempt at experimental direction based on Shusaku ENDO's novel, and he directed "Seishun no mon" (The Gate of Youth) as Shinobu OTAKE'S debut, "Seishun no mon: Jiritsu hen" (The Gate of Youth Part 2) and TV drama "Kiga kaikyo" (Straits of Hunger).
遠藤周作の原作をもとに実験的演出を試みた『わたしが・棄てた・女』を撮ったのち日活を離れ、大竹しのぶのデビュー作となった『青春の門』、『青春の門・自立篇』、テレビドラマ『飢餓海峡』などを演出する。