Reared in Tokyo, Ozu became an assistant cameraman for the Shōchiku Motion Picture Company, Tokyo, in 1923. By the mid-1920s he was a director, but not until the early 1930s did he establish his reputation by such outstanding shomin-geki silent comedies as Daigaku wa deta keredo (1929; I Graduated, But . . . ) and Umarete wa mita keredo (1932; I Was Born, But . . . ). Ten years later Toda-ke no kyodai (1941; The Toda Brother and His Sisters), a consideration of Japanese attitudes toward motherhood, was his first box-office success.

Ozu made no films from 1942 to 1947. In 1947 Nagaya shinshi roku (The Record of a Tenement Gentleman) initiated a series of pictures in which a further refinement of style was combined with a concern for postwar conditions. Plot was almost eliminated, while atmosphere and detailed character studies became preeminent. He almost totally abandoned such devices as camera movement in favour of straight pictorial shots. Banshun (1949; Late Spring), Bakushu (1951; Early Summer), O-chazuke no aji (1952; The Flavour of Green Tea over Rice), Tōkyō monogatari (1953; Tokyo Story), and Sōshun (1956; Early Spring) exemplify this style and helped to establish Ozu as an internationally prominent director. Such later films as Early Autumn (1961) and An Autumn Afternoon (1962) show Ozu's mastery of the decorative use of colour in motion pictures.