Directors Guild of Japan
He next worked for Juzo Itami, to film "making of" pieces for that director's "A Taxing Woman" (1987) and "A Taxing Woman 2" (1988). He made his regular feature film debut with "Fancy Dance" in 1989, and won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for his next feature, "Sumo Do, Sumo Don't", in 1991.