Actor Haruhiko Kato (51) Spotted Looking “So Much Older” — 5ch: “Thought It Was Issei Ishida”

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The story

Yahoo News recently ran a photo of actor and TV personality Haruhiko Kato (51), sparking a wave of reactions in a thread on 5ch’s Geinou/Supo-sokuho+ board. Kato rose to fame in the 1990s through commercials for the ski gear chain “Alpen” and the dating reality show “Ai no Ri” (Love Wagon), and was sometimes mentioned in the same breath as Masaharu Fukuyama back then. The thread filled up with comments like “he’s really aged” and “long time no see,” along with repeated comparisons to fellow actors from that era like Issei Ishida and Daisuke Miyagawa — opinions split over whether he simply looks his age.

“This is shockingly different!” 51-year-old Haruhiko Kato causes a stir with his “current look” — “He’s really aged…” “Long time no see” “Compare him to other 50-year-olds, you won’t find many like this”

Fri, Oct 2, 11:00 PM

▼ 30 years since the “Alpen” commercials…

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here

What people said

3AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:32
Thought he was turning into Issei Ishida (a fellow '90s heartthrob actor).
7AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:33
Just… looks his age, honestly.
20AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:35
Re: #7
You think? Looks young to me.
9AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:34
Come to think of it, this guy used to be on variety shows constantly.
10AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:34
Celebrities who never seem to change are all just getting plastic surgery.
11AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:34
He was handsome and popular back then…
But with Johnny's (the talent agency) dominating, actors like him just got crushed out of the industry.
13AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:34
He wasn't even that good-looking to begin with, honestly.
18AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:35
He had a small face so he could play around with hairstyles and look handsome-ish, but his actual face wasn't that great.
19AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:35
He used to be like Masaharu Fukuyama's little brother figure,
but Yo Oizumi took that spot.

And Asaka Seto, who he was close with, got taken by Inohara (of V6).
23AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:37
Thought he was a Daisuke Miyagawa lookalike.
26AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:38
He was also in that drama "Caster" with Mei Nagano from around last year, and he already looked like a completely different person.
27AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:38
Back in the day, the go-to Chunichi Dragons cheer-squad celebrities were Haruhiko Kato and Ryuta Mine,
but now it's probably Jun Itoda.
28AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:38
Why does aging make him look like Daisuke Miyagawa instead of just… old?
33AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:39
I saw him pretty recently in a Hiroshi Abe drama, and he didn't look that different.
34AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:39
I remember him constantly hitting on Rei Kikukawa.
37AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:39
I knew he was on Ai no Ri back in the day, but I don't think I've seen him in like 20 years.
39AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:40
His choice of glasses is seriously, terribly uncool.
40AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:40
His claims to fame are Ai no Ri and the Alpen ski commercials.
41AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:41
He just got a bit heavier — his skin still looks good, he's pretty youthful overall.
43AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:41
Isn't this too much hyaluronic acid filler or something?
44AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:41
This reminds me of something Goro Yamada once said — that Kato, not being too much of a pretty boy, doesn't make people nervous around him, so he must be pretty popular with women.
61AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:45
Re: #44
Yeah, that tier of looks is exactly what's popular when you're young, for men and women alike.
And that's how they end up thinking they can pick anyone, then miss their window or end up stuck with a dud.
78AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:49
Re: #44
He always struck me as like an early prototype of Yuya Tegoshi.
46AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:41
He hasn't been on TV in ages.
Haven't seen him around Nagoya either.
Maybe he's running his own business now?
48AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:41
Issei Ishida hasn't gained weight so he's kept his looks reasonably well —
though he got a ton of hair transplants.
51AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:42
He was seriously overweight for a while,
but he's looking a lot better now, honestly.
52AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:43
I always remember him puckering his lips like a Hyottoko mask (a comically pointy-mouthed festival mask).
53AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:43
As you age, the space under your nose feels longer
and your nose seems to get bigger —
probably because the facial bones and muscles start to sag.
Just load up on hyaluronic acid filler.
58AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:45
Re: #1
Nah, he's changed, but for 51 he still looks young.
63AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:46
There was some woman I associate with him, but I can't remember her name.
81AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:50
Why does your nose get bigger as you age anyway?
88AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:52
Re: #81
The nostrils/nose wings get more prominent. Especially for men.
89AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:52
Re: #81
Nah, it's always been like that — his nostrils were always pretty flared.
96AnonymousOct 6, 2026 22:55
Re: #81
Your face gets bigger as you age, so the nose in the middle probably gets pulled outward on both sides. Not sure though.

Background and Key Points of This Topic

Haruhiko Kato built his profile from the late 1990s into the 2000s through commercials for the ski-gear chain “Alpen” and appearances on the dating reality show “Ai no Ri” (Love Wagon), but his TV presence had noticeably dropped off in recent years. What sparked discussion this time was simply his current appearance: the thread was split between those who saw his aging as “just looking his age” and those who felt he “still looks young” — making it less a straightforward story of someone looking worn down, and more a topic where opinions diverged. The frequent comparisons to contemporaries like Issei Ishida and Daisuke Miyagawa reflect broader interest in how actors of the same generation have aged. Various theories were floated in the thread about why he’d stepped back from television, but since none of these could be confirmed as fact, this article doesn’t cover them.

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou Supo-sokuho+) thread “[Entertainment] “This is shockingly different!” 51-year-old Haruhiko Kato causes a stir with his “current look” — “He’s really aged…” “Long time no see”“.

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