Katsura Utamaru

was a Japanese rakugo comedian best known for hosting the Shōten comedy show on Nippon TV. He is known as a master of the Japanese comic art of rakugo, in which a single performer or storyteller appears on stage and tells comedic stories to the audience.

Career Born in Yokohama, Utamaru's real name was Iwao Shiina. He became an apprentice of the rakugoka Kokontei Imasuke V in 1951 at the age of 15, assuming the name Kokontei Imaji. He left rakugo for a while, then became the apprentice of Katsura Yonemaru, assuming the new name Katsura Yonebo. He became the head of the Rakugo Geijutsu Kyokai in 2004, and received many honors, including the Order of the Rising Sun in 2007. He died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on 2 July 2018 at a hospital in Yokohama. Kōzamei