 He gained Western recognition during the 1950s and 1960s with two anti-war films, "The Burmese Harp" and "Fires on the Plain", and the technically formidable period-piece "An Actor's Revenge" ("Yukinojo henge") about a kabuki actor.Among his many literary adaptations were Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's "The Key" ("Kagi"), Natsume Sōseki's "The Heart" (Kokoro) and "I Am a Cat" ("Wagahai wa neko de aru"), in which a teacher's cat critiques the foibles of the humans surrounding him, and Yukio Mishima's "Conflagration" ("Enjo"), in which a priest burns down his temple to save it from spiritual pollution.