[1] According to the biography on his official website Kaneko was interested in science fiction, particularly Godzilla and Gamera films, from a young age.

He became involved in amateur film making in his teen years, but majored in education when he attended Tokyo Gakugei University.

[2][3] Kaneko made his debut as a director with Nikkatsu in February 1984 with Kōichirō Uno's Wet and Swinging, part of a long-running Nikkatsu series based on the works of erotic novelist Kōichirō Uno.

[7][8] Kaneko's final film for Nikkatsu was the appropriately named Last Cabaret, the second to last of the studio's Roman Porno series.

The film, released in April 1988, about a cabaret forced to close has been taken as a metaphor for the demise of the studio itself.