Kei Satō (佐藤 慶, Satō Kei, born December 21, 1928 in Aizuwakamatsu - May 2, 2010) was a Japanese character actor and narrator. He is known for his work with Japanese New Wave director Nagisa Oshima,[1][2] and for several films with Kaneto Shindo, such as Onibaba and Kuroneko. He won the best actor award from Kinema Junpo for the films The Ceremony and Nihon no akuryō.[3] He also worked as a narrator for many documentaries, both on television and film.
The Sato family was an ancestral Aizu Domain samurai, and after losing the Boshin War, they ran a wholesale business of lacquerware materials. In addition, Kinuko, the wife of Zensuke Shibukawa, who participated in the February 26 incident and died in prison, is an aunt.
After graduating from the dyeing and weaving department of Fukushima Prefectural Aizu Technical School (currently Fukushima Prefectural Aizu Technical High School), while working at the Aizuwakamatsu City Hall Family Register Section
In his early days as an actor, before his success in The Human Condition, he supported himself by producing gariban hand-written mimeographs, and he maintained his interest in hand-printing to the end of his life.[4]
In 1981 he appeared in the film Daydream performing an unsimulated sex scene with actress Kyoko Aizome. The involvement of a mainstream actor in a hardcore film made good press coverage and brought audiences to the theater "in droves".[5]
Due to his physical condition, he began to refrain from working after the age of 80. He died at 4:19 p.m. on May 2, 2010 at a hospital in Tokyo due to pneumonia Died at the age of 81.