He became famous in the late 1990s for his appearances in television commercials for Nissan in which he portrayed Mr. K, supposedly Yutaka Katayama, the company's former president.
His son Hiroshi was an Olympic bronze medalist in soccer in the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games.
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At that time, he got a job as ship's clerk and assistant purser on the freighter Londonmaru, carrying a cargo of raw silk to Victoria, British Columbia and Vancouver, as well as 20 passengers to Seattle.
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He was inducted into the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame in 2008.
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A 1997 advertisement campaign for the then-introduced Nissan Frontier featured actor Dale Ishimoto portraying Katayama with a Jack Russell Terrier, stating "Dogs Love Trucks!"
Yutaka Sado | Yutaka Yoshie | Yutaka Enatsu | Kyoichi Katayama | Yutaka Yano | Yutaka Takenouchi | Yutaka Kobayashi (businessman) | Yutaka Kobayashi (announcer) | Yutaka Kobayashi | Yutaka Katayama | Yoshimi Katayama | Yoshihiro Katayama | Tetsu Katayama | Sen Katayama | Katayama Shinji | Hitomi Katayama | Hiroshi Katayama |