Sunja finds a friend in Kato Tatsumi, a man with a dark past. In the second season of Pachinko, Jun Kunimura plays Kato.
While shopping at a supermarket with Solomon, Sunja faces discrimination, leading to Solomon losing his temper and yelling at the offender.
Solomon’s outburst is met with disapproval from all the customers present, except for one—an old man named Kato Tatsumi.
The next time Sunja visits the supermarket, Kato approaches her and tells her that Solomon’s outburst was justified. He even admires Solomon for it.
Although Kato himself has never faced discrimination, he understands that it must have taken courage for Solomon to speak up, an opinion that greatly surprises Sunja.
A spirited new friend
When Sunja sees Kato feeding birds in the park, she decides to talk to him, marking the beginning of their friendship.
Sunja finds it easy to be friends with him, even though he is Japanese. She shares her troubles with him, and while he does not have solutions to all her problems, he helps her gain perspective.
He makes her understand that life is never easy, regardless of the time one lives in. While their generation faced the Second World War, Solomon’s generation has its own challenges.
Despite living with her son, Sunja feels lonely at her age. However, once she starts spending time with Kato, she no longer feels lonely.
In fact, Kato takes Sunja to different restaurants and introduces her to things she has never tried before. Suddenly, Sunja’s life becomes exciting and full of new experiences.
Kato is well aware that he does not have long to live due to his old age, so he makes it a point to make the most of his life, inspiring Sunja in the process.
Kato’s troubles and secrets
Kato worked in a printing factory for thirty years before retiring. He now lives on a meager pension and has to manage with it as he also has a mortgage.
Kato lives alone and rarely meets his family, but because of his financial struggles, he decides to move to Nagoya to live with his daughter.
When Sunja learns about Kato’s financial troubles, she decides to help him and offers him a loan to fulfill his lifelong dream of visiting America.
Kato then asks Sunja to accompany him, but before Sunja can make up her mind, Mozasu hires a private investigator to look into Kato’s past.
Kato’s spending on Sunja despite his financial situation concerns Mozasu, who fears that Kato might be after his mother’s money.
The investigator discovers that, like most men of his generation, Kato served in the army during the war. However, Kato was one of those tried for war crimes.
Kato’s unit killed more than a hundred American POWs. Living in inhuman conditions and believing they would soon die, Kato and his unit did not resist the order to kill the POWs.
Kato considers himself a murderer but wants to forget the past, unwilling to be chained to it. Sunja, on the other hand, believes that the past cannot be forgotten.
After learning about Kato’s past deeds, Sunja decides to end their friendship, even though it hurts her and leaves her lonely once again.
Also Read: Akiko Nakazono: Pachinko season 2 character explained
