Cha Katō

Cha Kato was born in Fukushima in 1943, which means Japanese comedy has had him on screen for well over half a century. He drums for The Drifters, and his double act with the late Ken Shimura was the reason a whole country's children refused to go to bed on Saturday nights. Here is what viewers outside Japan often miss about him: he was never the man delivering the clever line. He was the man who let the joke happen to his own body. Dropping every scrap of dignity on national television takes a strength that sharper comedians never develop. He is still working, still light on his feet, and that longevity feels like the punchline he earned.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Name (English)

Cha Katō

Name (Japanese)

加藤茶

Reading

かとう ちゃ

Born

March 1, 1943 (age 83)

Origin

Fukushima, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan

Height

163 cm

Occupation

actor / comedian / drummer / singer

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Pisces / Goat

Blood type

A

Agency

*渡辺プロダクション *イザワオフィス

High school

Shoin Gakuen Fukushima High School

Spouse

加藤綾菜

Works summary

Appearances

116 (1965–2026)

By year

1965: 1, 1966: 2, 1967: 4, 1968: 2, 1969: 1, 1971: 2, 1976: 1, 1986: 3, 1987: 2, 1988: 2, 1989: 5, 1990: 1, 1991: 1, 1992: 2, 1994: 2, 1995: 4, 1996: 3, 1997: 3, 1998: 6, 1999: 4, 2000: 3, 2001: 4, 2003: 2, 2004: 4, 2005: 3, 2006: 2, 2007: 2, 2008: 3, 2009: 1, 2010: 2, 2011: 5, 2012: 2, 2013: 5, 2015: 1, 2016: 3, 2017: 1, 2018: 3, 2019: 2, 2020: 1, 2023: 1, 2025: 2, 2026: 1

Debut work

日本一のゴマすり男

Filmography / notable works

• Xhttps://x.com/katochan0301
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cha%20Kat%C5%8D
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%A0%E8%97%A4%E8%8C%B6
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3276668

Tags

• Fukushima Prefecture
• actor
• comedian
• drummer

Last updated

September 18, 2026

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Works and profile fields sourced from Wikipedia reflect content as of 2026-08-26. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.