was a Japanese stage and film actor who appeared in nearly 180 films between 1948 and 1988.

Biography

After leaving Keiō Gijuku High School prematurely, Katō gave his stage debut in 1934. He later joined the Shinkyo Theatre Company, which was forced to disband by the authorities in 1940. After the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, he first became a member of the Mingei Theatre Company before moving to the

Bungakuza is a Japanese theatre company. Along with the Mingei Theatre Company and the Haiyuza Theatre Company it is considered one of the "Big Three" among Shingeki theatre troupes. History The company was founded by Kunio Kishida, Mantarō Kubota ...

Theatre Company. In 1948, Katō gave his film debut in

Kōzaburō Yoshimura was a Japanese film director. Biography Born in Shiga Prefecture, he joined the Shōchiku studio in 1929. He debuted as director with a short film in 1934, but, after being denied a promotion by head of the studio Shirō Kido, continued working ...

's ''Waga shōgai no kagayakeru hi''. In the following years, he worked for directors such as

Keisuke Kinoshita was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Ronald Berganbr>"A satirical eye on Japan: Keisuke Kinoshita" ''The Guardian'', 5 January 1999. While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and ...

, Kaneto Shindō and

Satsuo Yamamoto was a Japanese film director. Yamamoto was born in Kagoshima, Kagoshima City. After leaving Waseda University, where he had become affiliated with Left-wing politics, left-wing groups, he joined the Shochiku film studios in 1933, where he worke ...

, and regularly starred in films of

Tadashi Imai was a Japanese film director known for social realist filmmaking informed by a left-wing perspective. His most noted films include '' An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) and '' Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963). Life Although leaning towards left-win ...

. Katō was married to actress Isuzu Yamada from 1950 to 1953.

Selected filmography

Film

* ''

Apostasy Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...

'' (1948) * ''Vacuum Zone'' (1952) * ''

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

(1953) * ''Tower of Lilies'' (1953) * '' Dobu'' (1954) * '' Mahiru no ankoku'' (1956) * '' The Rice People'' (1957) * '' Night Drum'' (1958) * ''

The River Fuefuki is a 1960 Japanese historical drama film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita and starring Hideko Takamine. It is based on a novel by Shichirō Fukazawa. Plot The film is set in the Sengoku period in Japan, spanning in time from the Battle of Iidagaw ...

'' (1960) * ''

Blood Is Dry , also titled ''Blood Thirsty'', is a 1960 Japanese drama film written and directed by Yoshishige Yoshida and starring Keiji Sada. It is Yoshida's second film and an early exponent of the Japanese New Wave. Plot During a meeting, the executive ...

'' (1960) * ''

Zero Focus is a 1961 Japanese crime drama film directed by Yoshitarō Nomura, and co-written by Shinobu Hashimoto and Yoji Yamada. It is based on the novel of the same name by Seichō Matsumoto. A remake of the film was released in 2009. Plot One wee ...

'' (1961) * '' Hepcat in the Funky Hat'' (1961) as Kogure * '' Immortal Love'' (1961) * '' The Catch'' (1961) * '' The Mad Fox'' (1962) * '' Gang vs. G-Men'' (1962) * '' Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963) * '' A Legend or Was It?'' (1963) * '' A Fugitive from the Past'' (1965) * ''

Shiroi Kyotō is a 1965 novel by Toyoko Yamasaki. It has been adapted into a film in 1966 and then five times as a television series in 1967, 1978, 1990, 2003, and 2019. The 1966 film was entered into the 5th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a ...

'' (1966) * '' Portrait of Chieko'' (1967) * '' The Profound Desire of the Gods'' (1968) * '' Hiken yaburi'' (1969) * '' Gyakuen Mitsusakazuki'' (1969) * '' Yakuza Zessyō'' (1970) * ''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient hearing, audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low sound intensity, intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be exten ...

'' (1971) * '' Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima'' (1973) * '' Men and War Part III'' (1973) * ''

Himiko , also known as the , was a shamaness-queen of Yamatai-koku in . Early Chinese dynastic histories chronicle tributary relations between Queen Himiko and the Cao Wei Kingdom (220–265) and record that the Yayoi period people chose her as ruler ...

'' (1974) * '' Castle of Sand'' (1974) * '' Dragon Princess'' (1976) * '' Torakku Yarō: Ippiki Otoko Momojirō'' (1977) * '' Hometown'' (1983) * ''

Tampopo is a 1985 Japanese comedy film written and directed by Juzo Itami, and starring Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kōji Yakusho, and Ken Watanabe. The publicity for the film calls it the first " ramen Western", a play on the term spaghetti ...

'' (1985)

Television

* '' Haru no Sakamichi'' (1971) as

Maeda Toshiie was one of the leading generals of Oda Nobunaga following the Sengoku period of the 16th century extending to the Azuchi–Momoyama period. His preferred weapon was a yari and he was known as "Yari no Mataza" (槍の又左), Matazaemon (又左 ...

* '' Amigasa Jūbei'' (1974-1975) * ''

'' (1978) as Professor Ōkouchi * '' The Yagyu Conspiracy'' (1978) as

Date Masamune was a Japanese ''daimyō'' during the Azuchi–Momoyama period through the early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful feudal lords in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he w ...

* '' Sanada Taiheiki'' (1985-1986)

Awards

* 1983: Mainichi Film Special Award for '' Hometown'' and lifetime achievement * 1983: Best Actor Award at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival for ''Hometown''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kato, Yoshi 1913 births 1988 deaths Japanese male film actors 20th-century Japanese male actors Male actors from Tokyo People from Minato, Tokyo