Classic Film Club

Awards

AWARDS

Mainichi Concours

NOMINEE
WINNER

Vendetta of a Samurai

  • Mainich Concours iconSupporting ActorMainich Concours icon
Vendetta of a Samurai
  • Vendetta of a Samurai
  • 荒木又右衛門 決闘鍵屋の辻
  • 1952

Mother

  • Mainich Concours iconSupporting ActorMainich Concours icon
Mother
  • Mother
  • おかあさん
  • 1952

DAISUKE KATO

Daisuke Kato

Daisuke Kato (1954)

Biography

BIO

Daisuke Kato | 加東大介 was born Tokunosuke Katou, in Tokyo, Japan, in 1911.

Born into a theatrical family, Kato followed his older brother, the actor Kunitaro Sawamura (1905-1974) into the Kabuki theatre and then into film.   His older sisters were the folklorist Seiko Yajima (1903-1988) and the actress Sadako Sawamura (1908-1996).   Sadako was married for a time to the actor Kamatari Fujiwara (1905-1985).

A veteran of more than 170 motion pictures, Kato made his film debut in 1936, at the age of 27, for Nikkatsu.

After being demobilized from his station in New Guinea as a corporal during World War II, Kato returned to his film career and joined director Akira Kurosawa’s stock company at Toho.

Kato won the Mainichi Film Award for Supporting Actor for his performances in Vendetta of a Samurai (1952) and Mother (1952).   His last film was released in 1974.

Kato’s son was married to Kazuko Kurosawa (1954-), the costume designer and daughter of Akira Kurosawa.   His grandson is the actor Takayuki Kato.

Kato died of colon cancer in Tokyo, in 1975, at the age of 65.


Films

NOTED FILMS

Rashomon

Rashomon
  • Rashomon
  • 羅生門
  • 1950
  • Kurosawa classic about a murder seen from the perspective of its various participants.

The Life of Oharu

The Life of Oharu
  • The Life of Oharu
  • 西鶴一代女
  • 1952
  • Set in Kyoto, Japan in the 17th century, a young woman is pledged by her family to become a concubine to a local lord.

    Her primary task is to produce a male heir, but once completed she is sent back to her family to face a father deep in debt having assumed she would return with payment commensurate to her services.

Ikiru

Ikiru
  • Ikiru
  • 生きる
  • 1952
  • A long-time city bureaucrat finds himself unmoored and dissatisfied with his accomplishments once he believes he has contracted stomach cancer and knows his death is imminent.

Seven Samurai

Seven Samurai
  • Seven Samurai
  • 七人の侍
  • 1954
  • Akira Kurosawa's homeric story of a band of samurai that defends a small village against marauders in the waning days of the feudal warlord era is not only a genre classic, but also influenced many Westerns decades later.
Complete filmography at: