After the war he established the Hachinosu Eiga studio in collaboration with several colleagues. This allowed him to work independently of the studios, and films such as "Children of the Beehive"(1948), where he employed homeless children he had taken in and raised himself, resulted. He also directed films for Shin-Toho and Daiei, the last of which, "Hana no Omokage"(Image of a Mother), he made in 1959. Shimizu directed a total of 163 films over his career.

Shimizu was highly regarded by the other master filmmakers of his era. OZU Yasujiro, a close friend who was born in the same year, once declared, "I can't shoot films like Shimizu," while MIZOGUCHI Kenji is quoted as saying, "People like me and Ozu get films made by hard work, but Shimizu is a genius." Disliking anything contrived, Shimizu preferred to improvise in his films, making frequent use of children and location shots and weaving lyrical stories that used Japan's natural surroundings to maximum effect. The work of Shimizu Hiroshi are unique: full of wit and humor, and possessing a rare and special charm all their own. «Courtesy of Tokyo Filmex»

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