We're proud to present the song stylings of Zatoichi... we mean Shintaro Katsu

by Chris MaGee

Every once and awhile we like to highlight the singing talents of a Japanese actor and actress, well, who we never really could picture singing. There's plenty of them - Takeshi Kitano, Jo Odagiri, Tadanobu Asano, Rie Miyazawa, Yoshio Harada... the list goes on and one. In the Japanese entertainment industry it's often not enough that you're a talented actor or actress, you have to be able to sing and dance and be an all around entertainer. A recent wander through YouTube offered up a wealth of songs sung by none other than Zatoichi himself. Yes, that's right Shintaro Katsu. he not only gave life to Zatoichi, The Blind Swordsman, but he cut a few albums as well. Here's just a sampling of his musical talent. Make sure to check out the last video where (if you read Japanese) you can do a little karaoke singing along with Katsu. Enjoy!


Akiko Song


　

Yoru wa Bossanova


　
Iki na Wakare