Mizukami's major works include The Temple of the Wild Geese, Kiga kaikyō and Bamboo Dolls of Echizen.

After World War II, during which he worked in a variety of jobs, he studied under writer Kōji Uno, and in 1948 published the autobiographical novel Furaipan no uta (lit.

"The sea's fangs", 1960), the latter of which centered on Minamata disease, started his career as a writer of detective stories which incorporated social themes.

[1] His autobiographic novella The Temple of the Wild Geese about the relationship between a mundane priest, his mistress and a young acolyte received the Naoki Prize in 1961.

[3] Starting in the 1970s, Mizukami repeatedly turned to biographic works, such as Uno Kōji (1971) about his former mentor, Ikkyū (1975), a biography of 15th century monk and poet Sōjun Ikkyū, for which he received the Tanizaki Prize, and Ryōkan (1984) about Taigu Ryōkan, an Edo period monk known for his poetry and calligraphy.