[2][5] He joined the Kamata section of the Shōchiku film studios in 1925 and worked as an assistant director under Yasujirō Shimazu, before giving his directorial debut in 1929.

[2][5] Forced to continue to work as an assistant director,[2] and dissatisfied with the material he was given at Shochiku,[5] he moved to the independent Tokyo Hassei Eiga Shisaku studio (later Toho).

[1][5] After World War II, Toyoda adapted the works of writers like Yasunari Kawabata, Kafū Nagai, Naoya Shiga, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and Masuji Ibuse for his films.

[5] Noted works of this era include The Wild Geese (1953), Marital Relations (1955), A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women (1956), Snow Country (1957) and The Twilight Story (1960).

[1][2][4] Working as closely with his cameramen and scenarists as with his actors, he relied on a steady group of collaborators, including cinematographers Kinya Kokura and Mitsuo Miura and scriptwriter Toshio Yasumi.