Masaya Katō

I've always thought Masaya Katō has one of those faces that does half the acting for him, those deep-set features and that cool, slightly dangerous stare. He came up as a model, and you can tell, the way he just stands in a frame carries weight before he says a word. What I love is that with a face that handsome he could've coasted on pretty-boy parts, but he kept gravitating toward villains and quiet, hard men, and that's a more interesting choice to me. At 183cm, he has also worked in Hollywood films such as Crying Freeman. Now in his sixties, the sharp young edge has softened into a lived-in gravity, and honestly that suits him even better. He's the kind of actor whose presence alone makes a scene feel steadier.

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.

Masaya Katō is a Japanese actor, voice actor, model, and martial artist born on April 27, 1963, in Nara City, Nara Prefecture. Standing 183 cm tall, he is a graduate of Yokohama National University and began his career through modeling before establishing himself as a commanding screen presence. He received the Elan d'Or Award for Best Newcomer in 1993 and the Ishihara Yujiro New Actor Award in 1992, cementing his early reputation in the Japanese entertainment industry. He is known for portraying intense, taciturn roles that showcase a distinctive blend of refined looks and imposing screen presence.

Name (English)

Masaya Katō

Name (Japanese)

加藤雅也

Reading

かとう まさや

Born

April 27, 1963 (age 63)

Origin

Nara City, Nara Prefecture, Japan

Height

183cm

Occupation

Actor / Voice Actor / Model / Film Actor / Martial Artist

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Taurus / Rabbit

Blood type

A

Agency

Burning Production

University

Yokohama National University

Awards & achievements

• 1993 — Elan d'Or Award, Best Newcomer
• 1992 — Ishihara Yujiro New Actor Award

Spouse

Married (2006 -)

Works summary

Appearances

226 (1986–2026)

By year (titles with a known year)

1986: 1, 1988: 3, 1989: 4, 1990: 3, 1991: 3, 1992: 3, 1993: 3, 1994: 2, 1995: 2, 1996: 1, 1997: 2, 1998: 4, 1999: 4, 2000: 2, 2001: 3, 2002: 5, 2003: 7, 2004: 3, 2005: 5, 2006: 3, 2007: 6, 2008: 6, 2009: 6, 2010: 6, 2011: 5, 2012: 3, 2013: 7, 2014: 6, 2015: 9, 2016: 9, 2017: 6, 2018: 6, 2019: 9, 2020: 8, 2021: 6, 2022: 12, 2023: 9, 2024: 11, 2025: 15, 2026: 7, year unknown: 11

Debut work

f-inスタイリングウォーター

Filmography / notable works

• Official sitehttp://www.jap.co.jp/masaya/
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%A0%E8%97%A4%E9%9B%85%E4%B9%9F
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1431768

Tags

• From Nara Prefecture
• Actor
• Voice Actor
• Model

Last updated

November 2, 2026

Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. 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.