[3] Ōkōchi entered Shinkokugeki (New National Theatre), training under Sawada Shōjirō (aka Sawasho).

[4] Shinkokugeki was known for jidaigeki the period drama genre, particularly for its realistic sword fights (tate) or swordplay (kengeki).

[4] With this background, Ōkōchi entered the Nikkatsu studio in 1925 and soon came to fame in chanbara (sword-fighting) samurai films – a subgenre of jidaigeki emphasizing tate[4] – playing characters such as Chūji Kunisada and Tange Sazen.

[5] He was directed by Akira Kurosawa, Ishiro Honda, Daisuke Itō, Sadao Yamanaka, Teinosuke Kinugasa, Hiroshi Inagaki and Masahiro Makino.

His house and garden in Arashiyama, Kyoto, called Ōkōchi Sansō,[6] are still preserved and open to the public.