| Japanese: Katsutaro Kouta|italic=no | |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Birth Name: | Japanese: Katsu Satō|italic=no |
| Birth Date: | 6 November 1904 |
| Birth Place: | Japanese: [[Chūō-ku, Niigata|Nuttari]], [[Niigata, Niigata|Niigata]], [[Niigata Prefecture|Niigata]]|italic=no, Japan |
| Genre: | Japanese: [[Ryūkōka]], [[Min'yō]], Hauta, Kouta, Kiyomoto |
| Occupation: | Singer |
| Years Active: | 1930–1974 |
| Label: | Victor, Columbia, Teichiku, Toshiba |
was a Japanese female geisha and Japanese: [[ryūkōka]] singer, who performed in the "New-Japanese: [[Min'yō]]" style of singing.[1] Japanese: Kouta|italic=no came to be most well known, alongside another popular geisha singer, Japanese: [[Ichimaru]]|italic=no, in the "Japanese: Katsu-Ichi|italic=no Era".[2]
Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no was born on 6 November 1904 in Japanese: Niigata Nuttari-cho, Nakakanbara|italic=no District, Japanese: Niigata|italic=no Prefecture. During her childhood, she worked as a helper at a relative's restaurant, before becoming a geisha at the age of 15. Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no developed a fondness for Japanese: kiyomoto, a narrative style of singing intended to accompany the Japanese: shamisen; around the late Japanese: [[Taishō period|Taishō]]|italic=no period, Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no moved to Tokyo, was accepted into the Japanese: Yoshicho|italic=no geisha district and debuted with the performing name of Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no.
Around 1928, a geisha from the same geisha district named recorded a number of hit songs for Victor of Japan. In 1930, Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no recorded some Japanese: hauta and Japanese: kouta songs with Odeon Record and Parlophone. A year later, she signed an exclusive contract with Victor of Japan, debuting with the song in 1931. In 1932, her B-side song titled Japanese: "Yanagi no Ame" ("Willow Rain") became her first hit. Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no released the song in the same year, with the song becoming a big hit in 1933, selling 350,000 copies in 3 months, with a total of 600,000 copies.[3] However, the song also angered members of the Home Ministry in its description of illicit sexual relations.[4]
In 1933, Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no and Japanese: Issei Mishima|italic=no released the duet Japanese: "Tokyo Ondo" in June or July during Bon Festival. The song was composed by Japanese: [[Shinpei Nakayama]]|italic=no, selling 1.2 million copies and becoming the highest selling single in Japan at that time.[5] Also in 1933, Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no left the geisha world to concentrate on her new profession as a recording artist, dropping the Japanese: Yoshicho|italic=no name and becoming simply "Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no", after which released another hit, Japanese: "Oshima Okesa".
In the spring season of 1934, Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no, Japanese: Mishima Issei|italic=no and Japanese: Tamaki Tokuyama|italic=no released the song Japanese: "Sakura Ondo", which also became a big hit. In the same year, she received the name Japanese: "Kouta Katsutarō" in an open exhibition. After the name change, she released more songs and became an even bigger star, with the songwriter dubbing her and rival geisha artist Japanese: Ichimaru|italic=no as "Emotional Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no and Intellectual Japanese: Ichimaru|italic=no"; the time period of the mid 1930s when both were active and popular recording artists is known as the (lit., Japanese: "Katsu-Ichi|italic=no Era").
In the late 1930s, she and other singers were called to China to perform for Japanese troops in China. Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no, having fallen ill whilst on the trip, met military physician Japanese: Shinno Ryouichi|italic=no. The two became a couple and married in 1949. During the wartime, Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no recorded the song Japanese: "Asu wa Otachika", which became a hit.
After the war ended, Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no moved to Columbia and in 1948 to Japanese: Teichiku|italic=no. Her song Japanese: "Oshima Jowa" became a hit and was used for a movie of the same name. In 1950, she and Japanese: [[Hamako Watanabe]]|italic=no were invited to America to perform, and also to Brazil with Japanese: [[Taro Shoji]]|italic=no, where she was received well by Japanese citizens living in Brazil.
In 1961, Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no transferred to Japanese: Toshiba|itali=no Records where she recorded mostly Japanese: hauta and Japanese: kouta songs. Around the mid 1960s, Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no went back to Victor of Japan to rerecord some of her older hits. By the mid 1960s, so-called "oldies" (older singers and songs) were booming, with many older singers rerecording stereo versions of their hits. A TV program called Japanese: Natsukashi no Utagoe (Nostalgic Songs), which debuted in 1968, featured Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no as a regular performer until just before her death. In 1971, Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no received a Purple Ribbon award, followed by a second in 1974.
In June 1974, Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no was diagnosed with lung cancer and died on 21 June 1974 at Japanese: Fuchu|italic=no Hospital in Tokyo, aged 69. On 25 September 2005, a monument to Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no was established in her birthplace, Japanese: Niigata|italic=no.[6]
Throughout her career, Japanese: Katsutaro|italic=no performed three times on Japanese: [[Kōhaku Uta Gassen]], a popular New Year's Eve performance competition television special that has aired annually since 1953.