Toshio Masuda
In 1950, the Shintoho Company hired Toshio Masuda. He worked as screenwriter and an assistant director under Umetsugu Inoue, Nobuo Nakagawa and Mikio Naruse. He served as 2nd AD on Naruse's "Ginza Cosmetics" (1951) and "Mother" (1952). Inoue became a mentor figure to Masuda. They began collaborating on scripts and Masuda moved in with Inoue. He also wrote rough drafts for a number of Inuoe's scripts.