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). Biography Early life and career Midori Katō 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 Katō 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, Katō met a producer at Toei Doga (later 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. Sazae-san In 1968, Katō 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, Katō would later recall in 2009 that she initially thought it would last only three months. For about 10 years since the broadcast started, Katō played freely and ad libitum, but later decided to use scripts after self-reflecting that