“One Month Since Their Passing”: A Veteran Reporter Who Was Friends with Tamao Nakamura and Shintaro Katsu Recalls Their “Unique Marital Love”

One of the entertainment industry’s “most avid” pachinko enthusiasts

Exactly one month has passed since actress Tamao Nakamura (aged 86) passed away from pneumonia on June 9.

Tamao was born in Kyoto Prefecture. She was the eldest daughter of Kabuki actor Nakamura Ganjiro II, who was also active in film, and grew up in a family of entertainers—her older brother was Sakata Tōjūrō IV.

After making her acting debut in the 1953 film *Keiko to Yukie*, she went on to star primarily in period dramas such as the *Nemuri Kyoshiro* series and *Daibosatsu Toge*. Although she is often associated with period dramas, she also appeared in hit films like *The Human Condition* and *Ten Black Women*,*Annular Eclipse*, and of course on stage; her activities spanned a wide range, from voice acting in animated films to variety shows, making her a popular figure.

Tamao was known as one of the entertainment industry’s “premier” pachinko enthusiasts. She loved Starbucks’ Iced Caramel Macchiato and once mentioned on the radio that playing pachinko with one in hand was pure bliss. I, too, have witnessed Tamao playing pachinko on several occasions.

The location was Akasaka, Tokyo—a pachinko parlor located quite close to the Akasaka-mitsuke subway station. Perhaps Ms. Tamao was a regular there, as there are numerous reports of her being spotted there. Sometimes she was playing at a machine near the entrance, which was clearly visible from the street.

I once saw her dressed in a kimono, intently focused on the machine. Later, when I saw Tamao appear on a TV show wearing a kimono I recognized, I realized she must have gone to play during a break in the show’s taping.

I first met Katsu-san in 1990 while covering the “Pants Incident”—when his husband, Shintaro Katsu, was arrested on the spot at a Hawaii airport for possession of marijuana and cocaine—and after that, he would often invite me out for meals or drinks.

On one occasion, Katsu and I went together to a hotel where Tamao was performing a dinner show to cheer her on. We visited her dressing room, but she wasn’t there. When we asked a staff member, they said they didn’t know where she’d gone. After waiting a while, she returned and happily told us she’d gone to play pachinko and had hit a “fever” streak.

“Please help me win.”

For most pachinko enthusiasts, playing when they have some free time is a common part of daily life, but Tamako was different. In a magazine interview, she said the following:

“It’s not like I go just because I have some free time. I build it into my schedule from the very beginning.” (Fujin Kōron, December 14, 2021 issue)

Although Tamao and Katsu were sometimes featured as a “loving couple,” their married life was full of ups and downs.

Katsu Productions, which they launched five years after their marriage, went bankrupt in 1980. Their total debt amounted to 1.4 billion yen. In 1982, both their eldest son and daughter were arrested on suspicion of smuggling marijuana. In 1990, Katsu was arrested in connection with the “Pants Incident.”

In 1995, Katsu was hospitalized after being diagnosed with hypopharyngeal cancer. He passed away in 1997, but the debt remained, and Tamao spent the next 25 years paying it off in full. The hardships she endured must have been unimaginable to others.

When I was bar-hopping with Katsu at clubs and bars, Tamao would sometimes pop up out of nowhere and say,

“Please take care of Katsu for me,”

and hand Katsu some money—perhaps for a taxi fare—before heading home. This happened several times.

On one occasion, Katsu got so drunk that he fell asleep at a bar. It was well past midnight, and the bar was about to close, so she said to the sleeping Katsu,

“Let’s go home. Where are you heading tonight?”

I asked him, and Katsu replied,

“To Tamao’s place. Isn’t that obvious?”

So, feeling like teasing him a bit, I asked,

“You mean Tamao Sato’s place?”

he replied,

“Yeah, that’s right. That’s the one I’d prefer,”

he said. He was such a playful guy.

I’d always thought that Tamako and Tamao Sato (53) had absolutely no connection other than sharing the same pronunciation of their names, but Tamao Sato posted on X:

“My parents were fans of Tamao Nakamura, and they named me ‘Tamao.’ I owe this name to Tamao-san,”

on X, and it brought back memories of that time.

Mr. Katsu would often say,

“Tamao, Tamao,”

and would sometimes say,

“I’ve caused Tamao nothing but trouble,”

and would even shed tears.

It wasn’t just when he spoke of Tamao; even when he spoke of the man who was said to be his right-hand man,

“This guy graduated from Kyoto University, yet just because he came to work for me, he’s had to go through so much hardship…”

and would weep uncontrollably. People who knew Katsu-san

“That’s just an act,”

But if it was an act, then Katsu must indeed have been a master actor of rare talent. Even so, I want to believe that his tears for Tamao were not an act.

In the aforementioned interview in *Fujin Kōron*,

“Although the hardships were never-ending, even if I were reborn, I would still want to marry my husband,”

—and I’m sure Katsu felt the same way… I bow my head in prayer.