Also in Toei, Imai created a series of social films: in 1957, the two movies, "Kome" (The Rice People), his first color film depicting poverty in a farming village set in Kasumigaura, and "Junai monogatari" (The Story of Pure Love), a story of love between a girl suffering from radiation sickness and a delinquent boy, became popular; in 1961, "Arega minato no hi da" (That Is the Port Light), a film depicting through young Korean fishermen in Japan the deteriorated relationship between Japan and Korea caused by the dispute of the Syngman Rhee Line, became a hit.
東映においても社会派映画を次々と製作、1957年、霞ヶ浦を舞台に農村の貧困を描いた、今井の初のカラー作品『米(映画)』や、原爆症の少女と不良少年の恋を描く『純愛物語』、1961年、李承晩ラインをめぐる日韓関係の悪化を、在日朝鮮人の若い漁師を通して描く『あれが港の灯だ』など話題を呼んだ。