KATSUHIKO SASAKI TAKES TO THE STAGE! The Toho Veteran Appears in a Play Based on the Life of Daisuke Kato!

With actor Katsuhiko Sasaki backstage, following a live performance in Asakusa, Tokyo.

Today I went to Asakusa with my friend Yasushi to take in a live stage performance of Snow in the South Seas, which is based on the wartime experiences of Toho actor Daisuke Kato (Seven Samurai, Chushingura). Toho produced a film version in 1963, which stars Kato along with comic heavyweights Hisaya Morishige and Frankie Sakai.

Snow in the South Seas features music, comedy, drama and just about everything else, and the audience with whom I saw it (nearly a packed house) enjoyed it immensely. While it was based on Kato's real-life experiences putting on theatrical plays in New Guinea for Japanese soldiers during World War II, much of it was exaggerated for dramatic (and comedic) effect.

When the show was over, Yasushi and I were invited backstage to meet Katsuhiko Sasaki, who played a Japanese military officer. As usual, Sasaki-san was in great spirits, and we congratulated him on a job well done.