| Yasunori Katō | |
| First: | Teito Monogatari vol. 1 (1985) (Kadokawa Shoten) |
| Last: | (2021) (Kadokawa Shoten) |
| Creator: | Hiroshi Aramata |
| Portrayer: | Kyūsaku Shimada (, , Doomed Megalopolis) Kazuhiko Nishimura (Teito Monogatari Gaiden) Etsushi Toyokawa (The Great Yokai War) Jeff Winkless (Doomed Megalopolis) |
is a fictional character, the protagonist[1] [2] of the Japanese historical fantasy series Teito Monogatari, created by Hiroshi Aramata. He first appeared in a 1983 issue of a science fiction magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten[3] but gained more widespread attention with successive publications as well as his cinematic debut, and has since gone on to be referenced frequently in Japanese popular culture. His character is generally associated with onmyōdō mysticism since Teito Monogatari was one of the first novels to popularize the art in modern Japanese fiction.
In Japanese, he is commonly referenced with the prefix due to his incredible superhuman abilities and near immortality.
Katō is a supernatural Melmoth the Wanderer-style figure with a mysterious past. He is described as an oni born from the grudge of 2000 years of Japan's hidden history. As his opponent Yasumasa Hirai, the official descendant of the mythical Abe no Seimei and leader of the true onmyōji who serve the Japanese Emperor explains:
However Katō is also a powerful sorcerer; a skilled onmyōji who manipulates oni. Later on in the novel, his birthplace is determined to be Ryūjin, Wakayama and associations are made between his lineage and Abe no Seimei's clan. The implication is that Kato's ancestors were heretics who practiced onmyōdō magic outside the established government.
In the 19th century, he enlists in the Imperial Japanese Army under the guise of a Japanese soldier and rises to the rank of First Lieutenant.
In Teito Monogatari, Katō reveals his true intentions to destroy Tokyo through any means possible in order to cripple the Japanese Empire. He joins forces with underground Chinese and Korean anti-Japanese oppression groups (such as Donghak Peasant Revolution) and continues to work behind the scenes of various periods of 20th-century history to cause supernatural disasters which will weaken Japan. His first goal is to awaken the sleeping spirit of Taira no Masakado to help him cripple the country. However, his plans branch off into feng shui territories, agonizing the firmament and earth dragons to cause earthquakes and other natural disasters. In 1927, his efforts are temporarily sabotaged by the powerful miko and priestess of Masakado, Keiko Tatsumiya.
In 1945, he is instrumental in the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Japanese government organizes a plan to assassinate the Allied leaders through a Buddhist curse cast by abbot Otani Kozui, with their first target being Roosevelt. The Japanese Freemasons politically oppose the plan and attempt to sabotage the project. However, Kato assassinates the leader of the Japanese Freemasons, allowing the curse to go to completion.
In 1960, Kato returns to Japan amidst the chaos of student protests against the signing of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan. There he recruits the eager young writer Yukio Mishima and manipulates him. Eventually, a series of events escalate, culminating in the author's ritual suicide on November 25, 1970.
In 1998, Katō returns to stir up another earthquake under Tokyo by arousing the water dragon. At this point in the story, Katō is defined as another version of Taira no Masakado himself. Just as Masakado sought to overthrow the current Japanese government in his time, so does Katō seek to overthrow the contemporary Imperial authority by eliminating the capital Tokyo.
Amidst the wreckage of the Imperial Capital, Kato and his allies contend with the remaining defenders of Tokyo, which include a resurrected Yukio Mishima and Keiko Tatsumiya's apprentice. After a long struggle, Kato is finally defeated.
Katō's past is more deeply explored in the spin-off novel Teito Monogatari Iroku. In this novel, it is also revealed that he is the last descendant in a long line of mystics. His predecessor was Jubei Katō, a character whose story is chronicled in the novels Teito Gendan and Shin Teito Monogatari.
In The Great Yokai War, Katō returns to Japan in 2005 with an army of monsters created from discarded objects infused with yōkai under his command in another attempt to destroy Tokyo. This time he is stopped by the efforts of a band of native yōkai and a young boy wielding the power of the Kirin Rider. Despite being defeated, gaining Azuki bean-like pupils in the process, Katō survives the encounter and it is implied that at the end that he is ready to execute another plan.
The original character was simply described as a youthful military officer with no specific age. The character evolved in popular culture though and his image began to change. In modern depictions, he is generally described as a tall man with an unnaturally long face. His classic outfit is composed of the traditional uniform of a Japanese Imperial officer, complete with a service dress, cap, gloves, sword and a cape. On the backs of his white gloves are red inscriptions of the "Seiman" (the pentagram), the magic symbol of Abe no Seimei.
Kato is incredibly proficient in a variety of eastern magic, most notably the art of Onmyōdō, possessing abilities that rival the Tsuchimikado Clan, descendants of Abe no Seimei. He extensively employs black shikigami to do his bidding, and he can also summon goho doji. He is also known to use kodoku (worm toxins) to control and manipulate his victims.
To prolong his life, he performs the shijie technique from time to time. As a trained imperial officer, he is quite proficient in the use of a katana. He is also fluent in Mandarin and Korean.
Hiroshi Aramata has described his original vision of the character as closely resembling the English occultist Aleister Crowley.[1] In other interviews, Aramata has stated that he wanted the character to symbolize both the heretical and official sects of onmyōji.[4] Dr. Noriko T. Reider, assistant professor of Japanese Studies at Miami University, argues that Kato is an exemplary example of evolving, postwar sentiments about oni in Japanese culture.[2]
Some scholars and enthusiasts have also likened the character to a Japanese version of Dracula, with the plot of Teito Monogatari being a loose recreation of the famous horror story.
In the Tokyo Grand Guignol stage adaptation of Teito Monogatari, Katō was played by Kyūsaku Shimada. Shimada went on to portray Katō in the films (1988) directed by Akio Jissoji, and (1989) directed by Takashige Ichise. He also provided his voice to the Japanese version of the anime Doomed Megalopolis (1991–1992) directed by Rintaro.
In the 1995 spinoff film Teito Monogatari Gaiden (1995) directed by Izo Hashimoto, the nurse who gets possessed by Katō's spirit is portrayed by Kazuhiko Nishimura.
Etsushi Toyokawa portrayed Katō in The Great Yokai War (2005), directed by Takashi Miike. For this film, Katō is dressed in a modern black outfit instead of his usual military attire.
He also appears as a surprise supporting character in the film's sequel . Here he is played by Ryunosuke Kamiki.
In the cinematic adaptations, Katō is portrayed quite differently from his literary counterpart, generally as a more monstrous and vicious character. He is middle-aged instead of a young man. Whereas the literary character was quite verbose and could carry on long conversations with the other characters, the cinematic version's discourses are more limited, consisting mainly of threats or boasts. Whereas the original character supported his allies and defended them from harm, the cinematic version is more indifferent to suffering and works by himself more often.
Probably inspired by the invincible monsters of classic horror films, the cinematic versions of the character are incredibly durable and almost immune to pain. Across the films, he survives being dismembered, run through with a sword, having a hole blown through his body by magic, scorched by lightning, being impaled in the head, shot with a revolver several times in succession, and even having his entire face blown apart. In all these cases, he seems relatively unfazed and recovers extremely quickly. He is also rarely shown wielding a katana, except briefly in both Teito Monogatari Gaiden and The Great Yokai War.
After his literary and film debut, Yasunori Kato went on to become a frequently referenced figure in Japanese popular culture, inspiring a slew of imitators and homages.