He is known for his work with Japanese New Wave director Nagisa Oshima,[1][2] and for several films with Kaneto Shindo, such as Onibaba and Kuroneko.
The Sato family was an ancestral Aizu Domain samurai, and after losing the Boshin War, they ran a wholesale business of lacquerware materials.
In addition, Kinuko, the wife of Zensuke Shibukawa, who participated in the February 26 incident and died in prison, is an aunt.
After graduating from the dyeing and weaving department of Fukushima Prefectural Aizu Technical School (currently Fukushima Prefectural Aizu Technical High School), while working at the Aizuwakamatsu City Hall Family Register Section In his early days as an actor, before his success in The Human Condition, he supported himself by producing gariban hand-written mimeographs, and he maintained his interest in hand-printing to the end of his life.
The involvement of a mainstream actor in a hardcore film made good press coverage and brought audiences to the theater "in droves".