Kato-san Is the Shogun!

Shigeo Kato. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today, I visited Kamakura to have another meeting with former Toho actor Shigeo Kato. Kato-san brought along one of his most prized possessions from his acting career. It was a prop from the TV miniseries Shogun (1980), in which he appeared. Kato-san's character gets decapitated in the miniseries, which necessitated the SFX department to create a replica head. After filming wrapped, he was allowed to keep it. After nearly 40 years, it's still in very good condition.

During our meeting, we talked about his acting career, which was as fascinating as it always is. But the highlight had to be the prop from Shogun. What a cool thing to see!