He was the second oldest director following Kanehito SHINDO in view of actively working at his age of over 90, and had the greatest career in both the record of winning awards and the box office in the Japanese film industry.
90歳を超えても現役で活躍したという点では新藤兼人に次ぐ長老監督に位置し、日本映画界においては受賞歴と興行実績をあわせたキャリアにおいて比肩する者のない存在となった。