it was my dad's when he was stationed in japan and i'm not sure if its worth just selling or to restore it.

don't really know anything about the bike other than he bought in the 70s-early 80s. any info is greatly appreciated!

anyone..?

Use the 'search' function (upper right part of the forum page) and look in this forum for 'katakura.' You will definitely find some threads devoted to this bike maker. If I am not mistaken, a member here actually tracked down the guy who made these bikes, now quite elderly. Some of them are very nice, though from what I can tell yours may be a more basic model. In any case its 'value' probably depends a great deal on what, if anything, it means to you.

they were expensive when new? I'd say if it fits you fix it and ride it. If nothing else you would not see another one at the club rides

This one was not expensive. Cottered crank, nutted axles, stem shifters, steel seat post, etc = entry level.

Restore it as a family heirloom, value in the marketplace is minimal on this bike, in its current state. Fixing it up to sell and you will very likely be upside down on your investment.

I have a 1986 Katakura Silk myself, a higher up model. At least in my case, it looked like Katakura under-equipped the bike component wise to meet some PX price point. I rebuilt mine with better components from that era.

"Not expensive" could have to do with income. The first brand new bike I bought was a 1972 Ceito, from K-Mart. I remember it cost $135.00, which was how much I made in a week at the job I had then. Based on an income stand point, $135.00 was expensive, even with the cottered cranks, nutted axles, and steel seat post. (It did have down tube Suntour shifters, DiaCompe aluminum alloy center pulls, and no suicide levers though.)