[2] Born in Hyōgo Prefecture,[3] Kato was the nephew of the film director Sadao Yamanaka.

[4] He entered the Toho studio in 1937 and first began by working on documentaries.

[3] He worked as an assistant director to Akira Kurosawa in Rashomon.

[4] After World War II he switched to making jidaigeki.

[3] Kevin Thomas of Los Angeles Times noted that Kato has been compared with Budd Boetticher and Samuel Fuller.