He is one of a group of pink film directors of the 2000s known collectively as the "Seven Lucky Gods of Pink" (ピンク七福神, shichifukujin), which besides Imaoka, also includes Toshiya Ueno, Mitsuru Meike, Yūji Tajiri, Yoshitaka Kamata, Toshirō Enomoto and Rei Sakamoto.
[1] He attended Yokohama City University, but dropped out in 1990 in order to pursue a film career.
Like Toshiki Satō, Imaoka's sex scenes are often sparser than the norm for a pink film, and not given much emphasis.
"[3] Further, he writes, "Imaoka's particular strength is his understated depiction of characters trapped in a rut, desperately reaching out for something they secretly know they can't have.
[3] In 2000, the Tokyo Athénée Français gave Imaoka a career retrospective tribute which broke the institution's record for attendance.