Born in the Manchuria region of China in 1926. She joined Iwanami Film Productions in 1949 and first tried her hand at assistant directing and screenwriting in 1953. She made her debut as a director in 1957, with Machi No Fujin Gakkyu. In 1977 she produced her own documentary, Usuzumi no Sakura, where she shot a big sakura tree in Gifu Prefecture with a strong but delicate method. Other films include Dayachine No Fu(1982); Akiko-Aru Dancer No Shouzou (Akiko-Portrait Of A Dancer)(1985); Anshin Shite Oiru Tameni(1990); and Kabuki Yakusha Kataoka Nizaemon(1992).She is still active as a documentary filmmaker, working with her husband, producer Kudo Mitsuru. She was awarded the Kawakita Prize in 1998.