In 1946, he won the Best Director Award at the first Mainichi Film Awards for his first postwar movie "Minshu no teki" (An Enemy of the People) which portrayed the corruption of the zaibatsu (family-controlled conglomerates) during the war.
1946年、今井の戦後第1回作品で戦時中の財閥の腐敗を描いた『民衆の敵(1946年の映画)』で第1回毎日映画コンクールの監督賞を受賞。