Shirô Toyoda

After bypassing university studies to join Shochiku in 1924, Shiro Toyoda began directing at a relatively young age, starting out with silent films in his native Kyoto in 1929. In 1937, Toyoda moved to Tokyo, where he scored his first major success with Wakai hito (Young Person). After joining Toho, he accepted a number of different kinds of assignments, but remained best known for stately literary adaptations such as Yukiguni (1957). Like many Toho directors, he also turned his hand to special effects extravaganza (Byaku fugin no yoren, 1956) and the occasional ghost story (Yotsuya Kaidan, 1968).