 Mizukami entered Ritsumeikan University to study Japanese literature, but dropped out for financial reasons and because of bad health.After World War II he learned from author Kōji Uno, and in 1952 wrote the autobiographical "Furaipan no uta" (Song of the Frying Pan), which became a best-seller.For nearly the next decade, however, he did not publish, but in 1960, his story centering on Minamata disease, "Umi no kiba" (The Ocean's Fangs), started his career as a writer of detective stories on social themes.