is a Japanese

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

voice actress Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

, and

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...

who is most famous for the role of Sazae Fuguta from the long-running family

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

Sazae-san is a Japanese yonkoma manga series written and illustrated by Machiko Hasegawa. It was first published in Hasegawa's local paper, the , on April 22, 1946. When the ''Asahi Shimbun'' wished to have Hasegawa draw the four-panel comic for thei ...

''. She is also known for voicing Yoshiko in ''

Sally the Witch , also known as ''Sunny the Witch'', is one of the popular anime magical girls of what would eventually become a genre in Japan. Due to its characteristics, it may be considered the first shōjo anime as well; while titles such as ''Him ...

'' and Osomatsu Matsuno in ''

Osomatsu-kun is a comedy manga series by Fujio Akatsuka which ran in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' magazine from 1962 to 1969. The series revolves around a group of sextuplet brothers who cause all sorts of mischief. It has been adapted into ...

'' (1966).

Biography

Early life and career

Midori Katō was born on 15 November 1939 in

Tokyo Prefecture Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, which would later become

Tokyo Metropolis Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

four years after her birth, in the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

.『週刊文春』2009年1月29日号、pp.134-138 She was educated at in

Suginami is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Suginami City in English. As of June 1, 2022, Suginami has an estimated population of 588,354 and a population density of 17,274 persons per km2. The total area is 34.06 km2 ...

ward and , the now-defunct school of the troupe.Profile
at Kouenkai Info She originally wanted to be an actress in ''

shinpa (also rendered ''shimpa'') is a form of theater in Japan, usually featuring melodramatic stories, contrasted with the more traditional ''kabuki'' style. It later spread to cinema. Art form The roots of ''Shinpa'' can be traced to a form of agi ...

'', but she was unable to perform any of the required arts, and she expected that it would change if it was taught at a low price. Several of the students she was in the same graduating class with included actresses

Chieko Baisho is a Japanese actress and singer. In Japan, she is well known for her performance as Sakura in the '' Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series from 1969 until 1995. In addition, she has acted in many films directed by Yōji Yamada since the 1960s. She won ...

and . In 1959, the Japanese national broadcasting organization

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

was recruiting ''

tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as "tal ...

'' for television, and Katō subsequently moved the NHK's actor training school. The following year in April 1960, she made her broadcast debut in NHK's ''Tenshi no Heya'', and in the same year, she was also the founder of a theatrical troupe called "Sanju Jinkai". She was also a member of three voice acting offices: the Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society, and

Sigma Seven is a Japanese people, Japanese talent management firm representing a fair number of seiyū, voice actors and entertainers. Founded on March 3, 1988, Sigma Seven is headquartered on the third floor of the Haga Building in Minato, Tokyo, Minato, To ...

. After the expiration of her three-year priority contract with NHK, Katō met a producer at Toei Doga (later

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' ''GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' ''Mazinger Z'', ''Galaxy Express 999'', ''Cutie Honey'', ''Dr. Slump'', ' ...

) and started her career as a

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

in anime television. She voiced the titular character of ''

'', Yoshiko Hanamura in ''

'', and Kan-chan in ''

The Genie Family is an anime television series by Tatsunoko Productions. that originally ran from October 1969 to September 1970, with a total of 52 episodes on Fuji TV. It tells the story of a boy who finds a bottle with a mysterious power - each time its ...

''. She also performed the song in a commercial for Meiji Milk Chocolate (a chocolate bar manufactured by

Meiji Dairies is a Japanese food company. It was renamed into the , on March 31, 2011. It was a major dairy industry company established in 1917. Apart from dairy products like milk, ice cream, and cheese, their lineup includes sports drinks, pizza, choco ...

) that is best known for the ''Chocolate wa Meiji'' phrase.

''Sazae-san''

In 1968, Katō was cast as the titular character of ''

'', Sazae Fuguta. She participated at the audition with the intent to audition for another character, Katsuo Isono, and wanted to voice him and Sazae, but it was vetoed. She was asked to step down from all other anime work, and no longer played any anime characters other than Sazae. Although the series is now long-running, Katō would later recall in 2009 that she initially thought it would last only three months. For about 10 years since the broadcast started, Katō played freely and ''

ad libitum In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; from Latin for 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The r ...

'', but later decided to use scripts after self-reflecting that the scriptwriters are not actors if they are not writing every word. This was because

Kazue Takahashi , known by the stage name , was a Japanese actress and voice actress. Kazue was best known as the voice of Shoutarou Kaneda ("Jimmy Sparks") in ''Tetsujin 28-go'' ("Gigantor"). She debuted in 1949. Kazue was also known for roles in Kaiju Booska a ...

, who was the second voice actor of Katsuo, was able to do his words perfectly without being affected by Kato's ''ad libitum'' acting. During the fifteenth anniversary of ''Sazae-san'' around 1984, Katō had an opportunity to meet the writer of the original ''Sazae-san'' manga,

Machiko Hasegawa was a Japanese manga artist and one of the first female manga artists. She started her own comic strip, ''Sazae-san'', in 1946. It reached national circulation via the ''Asahi Shimbun'' in 1949, and ran daily until Hasegawa decided to retire in ...

. Katō told Hasegawa, "''Sensei'', ''watashi'', this year, it's just bad", and Hasegawa told her, "I'm sure there's something good to come". This was the only time Katō ever met Hasegawa before the latter's death on 27 May 1992. In 2009, Katō and her ''Sazae-san'' co-star

Ichirō Nagai was a Japanese actor, Voice acting in Japan, voice actor and narrator from Ikeda, Osaka. He was previously affiliated with Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society, and was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of his death. Career Nag ...

made brief cameo appearances in the fourth live-action adaptation of ''Sazae-san'', Katō appearing as a female employee. Katō told

Oricon Style , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

that she had not appeared in drama for the past 45 years and felt nervous during her appearance. She was invited to the held on 25 October 2012, where she exchanged words with then-Emperor

Akihito is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide. Bo ...

and

Empress Michiko is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who served as the Empress consort of Japan as the wife of Akihito, the 125th Emperor of Japan reigning from 7 January 1989 to 30 April 2019. Michiko married Crown Prince Akihito and became the Crow ...

. Kato introduced herself as "Sazae", believing that she would be recognized with just the nameplate, and the Emperor and Empress responded with a smile. After the

Crown Prince Naruhito is the current Emperor of Japan. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019, beginning the Reiwa era, following the abdication of his father, Akihito. He is the 126th monarch according to Japan's traditional order of succession. ...

and his younger brother the Prince Akishino said that they were watching ''Sazae-san'', Kato said "Dad, mom, I'm thrilled, I don't want to go home anymore. Officials from the Imperial Household Agency reported that

Aiko, Princess Toshi is a member of the Japanese imperial family. She is the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan. Birth Princess Aiko was born on 1 December 2001 at 2:43 PM in the Imperial Household Agency Hospital in Tokyo Imperial Pal ...

was able to recognize Katō's voice as Sazae's.アニメ好き愛子様　声優の「サザエでございま～す」聞かれる
Josei Seven In 2013

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

recognized ''Sazae-san'' as the longest running animated series, surpassing ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' which went on air in 1989. On 6 October 2019, Katō and fellow ''Sazae-san'' voice actor Takako Sasuga were recognized by Guinness World Records in the category of "longest career as a voice actor for the same character in an animated television series", having at that point voiced their characters for 50 years and 1 day.

Other work

In 1989, Katō began performing on her own stage, receiving a request from a producer of a television station who watched the stage. Katō was also the narrator of ''Makeover! Dramatic Before & After'', a documentary series which aired on

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

.実写版『サザエさん』に“サザエ”声優・加藤みどりが45年ぶりにドラマ出演！波平役の永井一郎も
Oricon Style The series' selection in the 2003 "New Word / Buzzword Awards" earned her an appearance at an award ceremony there. Katō was awarded the 45th Anniversary Special Prize by the in 2015.

Filmography

Anime

*''

Shōnen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru , also known as ''Samurai Kid'', is a Japanese anime series produced by Toei Animation. 65 episodes aired from 7 June 1964 until 31 August 1965. It tells the story of a ninja's pupil that controlled the wind. It was based on the manga by ...

'' (1964) - Midori, Mika *''

(1966)'' - Osomatsu-kun (episodes 1 and 2) *''

'' (1966) - Yoshiko Hanamura, Ultra Bā-san *''Tobidase! Bacchiri'' (1966) - Benmatsu *''Kaminaribō ya Pikkari Bi'' (1967) - Pontarō *''Pyunpyunmaru'' (1967) - Chibimaru *''

Dokachin the Primitive Boy is an anime created by Tatsunoko Productions and often shortened to , is a Japanese animation company. The studio's name has a double meaning in Japanese: "Tatsu's child" (Tatsu is a nickname for Tatsuo) and " sea dragon", the inspiration f ...

'' (1968) - Pak *''Fight Da!! Pyūta'' (1968) *''

Yuuyake Banchō is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Toshio Shoji. The term "Banchō (position), banchō" refers to the leader of youth delinquents in Japan. Plot Chuuji Akagi has just transferred to a new school and soon d ...

'' (1968) - Chuji Akagi *''

'' (1969) - Sazae FugutaProfile
at GamePlaza~HARUKA *'' Hakushon Daimaou'' (1969) - Kan-chan *''

Mōretsu Atarō is a Japanese comedy manga series written by Fujio Akatsuka. It was serialized from 1967 to 1970 in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday''. Two anime television adaptations were produced by Toei Doga (now known as Toei Animation), and aired TV Asahi (t ...

'' (1969) - Dekoppachi, *''Itazura Tenshi Chippo-chan'' (1970)

TV drama

*''Fushigi'na Pack'' (1960, voice) *''Oyako'' (1960) *''Tenshi no heya'' (1960), Yōko Harada *''Nōfu arite'' (1961) *''Speed Jidai'' episode 1 "Speed no miryoku" (1963) *''Tegami no Onna'' (1963) *''Docchi ga docchi'' (1972) *''

Wild 7 is a Japanese manga series by creator Mikiya Mochizuki that debuted on 1969 on '' Weekly Shōnen King'' where it ran until 1979. The creation of the manga had been based on the condition that Japan and other non-communist countries were f ...

'' (1972-1973, episodes 1, 2, 3 and 9) *'' Ganbare!! Robocon'' (1974-1976) - Mama/Shoko Oyama *''Dakara Seishun: Naki Mushikōshien'' (1983) *''Nihon no On'na Series II: Haru no Kage'' (1981) *''Watashi no Kawaii Hito'' (1986) *''

'' (2009) - Namihei's co-worker

Puppetry

*''Uriko Himeko: Nippon Mukashibanashi'' (1978, voice)'' *''Ōsama no Mimi wa Roba no Mimi: Girisha Shinwa yori'' (1999, voice)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kato, Midori 1939 births Living people Japanese video game actresses Japanese voice actresses People from Suginami Sigma Seven voice actors Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society voice actors Voice actresses from Tokyo 20th-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses