She is particularly known for her collaborations with directors Mikio Naruse and Keisuke Kinoshita, with Twenty-Four Eyes (1954) and Floating Clouds (1955) being among her most noted films.

Her first role was in the Shochiku studio's 1929 film Mother (Haha), which brought her tremendous popularity as a child actor.

[5] After moving to the Toho studio in 1937, her dramatic roles in Kajirō Yamamoto's Tsuzurikata kyōshitsu (1938) and Horse (1941) brought her added fame as a girl star.

[8] Film historian Donald Richie described the characters she portrayed as follows: "Like so many Japanese women then, they wanted more out of life, but couldn’t get it.

"[2] She married writer-director Zenzo Matsuyama in 1955,[2] but continued her acting career, stating that she wanted to "create a new style of wife who has a job".