Both Sawamura's own family and that of his wife were active in the film industry. Sawamura's younger brother and sister were the actors Daisuke Katō and Sadako Sawamura. He married Tomoko Makino, the daughter of Shozo Makino, a film director and the head of Makino Productions. His brothers in law were thus the film directors Sadatsugu Matsuda (1906–2003), Masahiro Makino (1908–1993), and Shinzō Makino, as well as the producer Mitsuo Makino. Masahiro married the actress Yukiko Todoroki and their son—and thus Sawamura's nephew—Masayuki Makino, is the head of the Okinawa Actor's School. Sawamura fathered the actors Masahiko Tsugawa and Hiroyuki Nagato, both of whom married famous actresses, Yukiji Asaoka and Yōko Minamida respectively.
