is a Japanese actress, voice actress, and narrator who is most famous for the role of Sazae Fuguta from the long-running family anime Sazae-san. She is also known for voicing Yoshiko in Sally the Witch and Osomatsu Matsuno in Osomatsu-kun (1966).
Midori Katà  was born on 15 November 1939 in Tokyo Prefecture, which would later become Tokyo Metropolis four years after her birth, in the Empire of Japan. She was educated at in Suginami ward and , the now-defunct school of the troupe. She originally wanted to be an actress in shinpa, but she was unable to perform any of the required arts, and she expected that it would change if it was taught at a low price. Several of the students she was in the same graduating class with included actresses Chieko Baisho and .
In 1959, the Japanese national broadcasting organization NHK was recruiting tarento for television, and Katà  subsequently moved the NHK's actor training school. The following year in April 1960, she made her broadcast debut in NHK's Tenshi no Heya, and in the same year, she was also the founder of a theatrical troupe called "Sanju Jinkai". She was also a member of three voice acting offices: the Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society, and Sigma Seven.
After the expiration of her three-year priority contract with NHK, Katà  met a producer at Toei Animation and started her career as a voice actor in anime television. She voiced the titular character of Osomatsu-kun, Yoshiko Hanamura in Sally the Witch, and Kan-chan in The Genie Family. She also performed the song in a commercial for Meiji Milk Chocolate (a chocolate bar manufactured by Meiji Dairies) that is best known for the Chocolate wa Meiji phrase.
In 1968, Katà  was cast as the titular character of Sazae-san, Sazae Fuguta. She participated at the audition with the intent to audition for another character, Katsuo Isono, and wanted to voice him and Sazae, but it was vetoed. She was asked to step down from all other anime work, and no longer played any anime characters other than Sazae. Although the series is now long-running, Katà  would later recall in 2009 that she initially thought it would last only three months.
For about 10 years since the broadcast started, Katà  played freely and ad libitum, but later decided to use scripts after self-reflecting that the scriptwriters are not actors if they are not writing every word. This was because Kazue Takahashi, who was the second voice actor of Katsuo, was able to do his words perfectly without being affected by Kato's ad libitum acting.
During the fifteenth anniversary of Sazae-san around 1984, Katà  had an opportunity to meet the writer of the original Sazae-san manga, Machiko Hasegawa. Katà  told Hasegawa, "Sensei, watashi, this year, it's just bad", and Hasegawa told her, "I'm sure there's something good to come". This was the only time Katà  ever met Hasegawa before the latter's death on 27 May 1992.
In 2009, Katà  and her Sazae-san co-star Ichirà  Nagai made brief cameo appearances in the fourth live-action adaptation of Sazae-san, Katà  appearing as a female employee. Katà  told Oricon Style that she had not appeared in drama for the past 45 years and felt nervous during her appearance.
She was invited to the held on 25 October 2012, where she exchanged words with then-Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. Kato introduced herself as "Sazae", believing that she would be recognized with just the nameplate, and the Emperor and Empress responded with a smile. After the Crown Prince Naruhito and his younger brother the Prince Akishino said that they were watching Sazae-san, Kato said "Dad, mom, I'm thrilled, I don't want to go home anymore. Officials from the Imperial Household Agency reported that Aiko, Princess Toshi was able to recognize Katà Â's voice as Sazae's.
In 2013 Guinness World Records recognized Sazae-san as the longest running animated series, surpassing The Simpsons which went on air in 1989. On 6 October 2019, Katà  and fellow Sazae-san voice actor Takako Sasuga were recognized by Guinness World Records in the category of "longest career as a voice actor for the same character in an animated television series", having at that point voiced their characters for 50 years and 1 day.
With the death of Takako Sasuga in 2023, Kato became the only cast member to continue appearing in the series since the first episode, making her the oldest. 2024 saw her break her own Guinness World Record. In an interview with The New York Times, she predicted that she would continue to voice-act âÂÂas long as I'm healthy and alive,â and revealed that she does not drink or smoke and does not stay out late at night for her role as Sazae.
In 1989, Katà  began performing on her own stage, receiving a request from a producer of a television station who watched the stage.
Katà  was also the narrator of Makeover! Dramatic Before & After, a documentary series which aired on TV Asahi. The series' selection in the 2003 "New Word / Buzzword Awards" earned her an appearance at an award ceremony there.
Katà  was awarded the 45th Anniversary Special Prize by the in 2015.