Shintarō Katsu

Life and career

Born Toshio Okumura (奥村 利夫 Okumura Toshio) on 29 November 1931. Shortly after his birth in Chiba, he was brought to the Okumura family's ancestral home in Fukagawa, Tokyo, where he was raised. He was the son of Minoru Okumura (奥村 実), a noted kabuki performer who went by the stage name Katsutōji Kineya (杵屋 勝東治) and who was renowned for his nagauta and shamisen skills. He was the younger brother of actor Tomisaburo Wakayama.

Shintaro Katsu began his career in entertainment as a shamisen player. He switched to acting because he noticed it was better paid. In the 1960s he starred simultaneously in three long-running series of films, the Akumyo series, the Hoodlum Soldier series, and the Zatoichi series.

He played the role of blind masseur Zatoichi in a series of 25 films between 1962 and 1973, in 100 episodes across a four season television series from 1974 to 1979, and in a 26th and final film in 1989, which he also directed.

In 1967, Katsu formed the company Katsu Productions.

In 1972, Katsu Productions released the initial chanbara film in a trilogy with the Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice based on a gekiga by Koike Kazuo. Hanzo the Razor: The Snare would be released in 1973, and Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold? in 1974.

Katsu had a troubled personal life. A heavy drinker, Katsu had several brushes with the law over drug use as well, including marijuana, opium and cocaine with arrests in 1978, 1990 and 1992.

He had also developed a reputation as a troublemaker on set. When director Akira Kurosawa cast him for the lead role in Kagemusha (1980), Katsu left before the first day of shooting was over. Though accounts differ as to the incident, the most consistent one details Katsu's clash with Kurosawa regarding bringing his own film crew to the set (to film Kurosawa in action for later exhibition to his own acting students). Kurosawa is reputed to have taken great offense at this, resulting in Katsu's termination (he was replaced by Tatsuya Nakadai). In her book, Waiting on the Weather, about her experiences with director Kurosawa, script supervisor Teruyo Nogami chalks the differences between Katsu and Kurosawa up to a personality clash that had unfortunate artistic results.

He was the husband of actress Tamao Nakamura (married in 1962), and father of actor Ryutaro Gan (Gan Ryūtarō).

Stunt actor Yukio Kato was killed on the set of the 26th Zatoichi film by Katsu's son, who was co-starring, when an actual sword was mistaken for a prop, fatally wounding Kato.

In her biographical book The Flower Warfare of Geisha Mineko, Kyoto geisha Mineko Iwasaki disclosed her relationship with Katsu (whom she referred to by his given name, Toshio). Spanning from 1965 to 1976, it was an 11-year relationship encompassing a six-year courtship and a five-year romance. The two eventually restored a close friendship that lasted until his death.

Katsu produced the manga-based Lone Wolf and Cub (Kozure Okami) series of jidaigeki films starring his brother Tomisaburo Wakayama, two of which were later compiled into the movie Shogun Assassin, as well as co-writing, producing, and acting alongside his brother in the TV jidaigeki series Oshizamurai Kiichihōgan (Mute Samurai) and Tsūkai! Kōchiyama Sōshun.

His other television work includes the police drama Keishi-K (Superintendent K) which he starred in (as Katsutoshi Gatsu), co-wrote, directed, and produced. His daughter, Masami Okumura, co-starred.

His film work includes the Hanzo the Razor series as Detective Itami Hanzo. He was also an accomplished shamisen player, as well as a vocalist, recording several albums in both pop and Enka.

He died of pharyngeal cancer on 21 June 1997.

Personal life

Religion

Shintaro Katsu practiced Nichiren Buddhism, and both his family and personal life were bound by a deep connection with the sect.

The Okumura family possessed a statue of Nichiren Shonin carved from highly flammable white sandalwood. Near the end of the Pacific War, the Okumura residence in Tokyo was completely destroyed by American air raids, leading the family to believe the statue had been lost to the fire. However, when Katsu and his mother evacuated to Nikko, the statue miraculously appeared inside his clothing bag without anyone having placed it there, becoming his mother's spiritual support during their gruelling period of evacuation. After the war, the newly built residence of the Okumura family was struck by another major fire and reduced to ashes. Once again, the statue survived completely unscathed and was discovered by Katsu in the ruins. Deeply shaken by this miracle, his father devoutly believed in Nichiren Buddhism from that day forward.

Just before Katsu entered the film industry, a Buddhist monk named Reiko Ueda told him, "You will become a pillar. You will become a pillar of the film industry. The statue of Nichiren is backing you up; it has entered your body. Though waves of extreme volatility will crash through your life ahead, you will become a central pillar." Katsu chanted the sect's sacred Daimoku, "(Namu) Myōhō Renge Kyō," in his films, such as Samaritan Zatoichi (1968) and Osho (1973). Furthermore, when facing moments of danger or terror in his personal life, he would clasp his hands in prayer and chant "Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō."

Marital relations

In 1955, Shintaro Katsu, an actor, and Tamao Nakamura, an actress, who were both under Daiei Film Co., Ltd. at the time, made their first appearance together in the film Kankanmushi wa Utau (The Cancan Insect Sings), marking the beginning of numerous subsequent film collaborations. Reflecting on those years, Katsu later recalled, "I never had a single thought that I would end up marrying Tamao-chan." However, while co-starring in the film Shiranui Kengyo (The Blind Menace) (1960), during their intense clash of acting on set, Katsu found himself unconsciously drawn to Tamao's feminine charm and the inner resilience of her character.

During their dating period, Tamao cheerfully agreed with and yielded to whatever Katsu said or did, always responding with "Yes, yes." However, exactly on the very day following their engagement in 1961, Katsu realized that their personalities were fundamentally incompatible. This realization struck him as Tamao’s strong-willed nature became exposed, prompting Katsu to later recall his mindset at that moment: "It seems I made a mistake (in choosing her)."

On March 7, 1962, the couple held their wedding ceremony at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. However, their views on family were entirely different. Katsu loathed tranquility and could not stand the domestic atmosphere, stating that he could only be satisfied by constantly moving around; in contrast, Tamao yearned to establish an ideal family. Furthermore, their vastly different economic concepts rendered them incompatible. At the time of their marriage, relatives and friends remarked, "A colander and a tightly bound pouch have married." As they said, shortly after the marriage, Tamao regretted marrying an outrageous person, and Katsu himself also revealed that marrying Tamao was a mistake.

Within the very year of their marriage (1962), the couple began to quarrel, and Tamao returned to her parents' home repeatedly. In the following year, 1963, Katsu moved out of the house and resided regularly at the Hotel Fujita in Kyoto, and the two began living separately. After this, the two quarreled intensely, and it turned into a "regular league match." Around 1964, Katsu expressed an intention to divorce Tamao but was dissuaded by close associates and reconsidered. In 1965, the marital crisis became exposed to the public through the media, but it ultimately came to nothing.

According to numerous published reports, Tamao managed Katsu in crowded public places, and challenged Katsu or competed for victory in various aspects of daily life. Furthermore, she lost her temper in professional social settings due to marital dissatisfaction, trampling Katsu's dignity and leaving him behind to depart alone; moreover, after scaring off the guests at their home late at night, she fiercely slapped Katsu across the face with blazing fury. Katsu neither felt Tamao as a woman nor recognized her as his spouse. Meanwhile, Katsu, who was well-known for being popular among women, was rumored to have affairs. While Tamao loathed his unfaithfulness, Katsu regularly encouraged Tamao to commit adultery herself—the two stood opposed in their perceptions of companionship and fidelity.

Filmography