Famous People in Japan



Katsura Zakoba

Date of Birth 21 September 1947
Place of Birth Osaka

Katsura Zakoba is a professional comic story teller. We can see him not only in the theater but also in TV programs. One of his famous TV programs is "Rakugo no Go". This program is broadcasted from midnight every Thursday. In this program, people in the audience raise their hand and say any topic they like. The master of ceremonies of this TV program picks three topics from them. After that, Zakoba and another comic story teller began to tell impromptu comic stories on those three topics.

After graduating from Nihonbashi Junior High School, he began to study under Katsura Beicho who gave the name Katsura Chomaru. When he was only eighteen years old, he held his first one-man show, "Chomaru Jishin no Kai."

He got first prize in story telling contests in 1985 and 1992. In 1988, he succeeded to the name of Zakoba.

He appears not only "Rakugonogo" but also "Tsukai Every Day". It is broadcasted from Monday to Friday in Kansai area.

References: "Gendai Nihonjinmeiroku"

Reported by: Matano Mariko
Data verified by: Takae Miki
Date of Report: November 1995
Updated by: Junko Ageki July 1998

Back to the main page