Ryōtarō Sugi

Ryotaro Sugi does not belong in the usual celebrity-does-charity box. Born in Kobe in 1944, he became a star of period drama and the singer behind Sukimakaze, and Japan has given him the Medal with Purple Ribbon and named him a Person of Cultural Merit. The part I keep thinking about, though, is the other career: decades of prison visits, food kitchens at disaster sites, and support work in Vietnam, much of it funded out of his own pocket. When a reporter suggested it was hypocrisy staged for the cameras, he answered flatly that yes, he is a hypocrite. That reply ends the argument. He does not defend his motives; he simply outworks the doubt.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Name (English)

Ryōtarō Sugi

Name (Japanese)

杉良太郎

Reading

すぎ りょうたろう

Born

August 14, 1944 (age 82)

Origin

Nagata-ku, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan

Height

178 cm

Occupation

singer / actor / lyricist / film actor

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Leo / Monkey

Blood type

O

Agency

杉友プロダクション

Active years

1965 -

Awards & achievements

• 2009 Medal with Purple Ribbon
• 2016 Person of Cultural Merit
• 1967 Elan d'or Award for Newcomer of the Year
• Golden Arrow Award

Spouse

伍代夏子

Works summary

Appearances

220 (1965–2025)

By year

1965: 2, 1966: 10, 1967: 5, 1968: 10, 1969: 13, 1970: 8, 1971: 10, 1972: 1, 1973: 5, 1974: 2, 1975: 4, 1976: 4, 1977: 6, 1978: 4, 1979: 4, 1980: 5, 1981: 8, 1982: 9, 1983: 2, 1984: 2, 1985: 4, 1986: 2, 1988: 4, 1989: 4, 1990: 3, 1991: 4, 1992: 3, 1993: 4, 1994: 4, 1995: 2, 1996: 2, 1997: 3, 1998: 5, 1999: 3, 2000: 4, 2001: 2, 2002: 4, 2004: 2, 2005: 3, 2006: 3, 2008: 2, 2009: 1, 2010: 2, 2011: 3, 2012: 1, 2013: 3, 2014: 2, 2015: 3, 2016: 2, 2018: 2, 2019: 5, 2022: 2, 2023: 2, 2025: 1

Debut work

野郎笠

Filmography / notable works

• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%8Dtar%C5%8D%20Sugi
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%89%E8%89%AF%E5%A4%AA%E9%83%8E
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3544895

Tags

• Hyōgo Prefecture
• singer
• actor
• lyricist

Last updated

September 18, 2026

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Works and profile fields sourced from Wikipedia reflect content as of 2026-08-26. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.