is a Japanese TV personality, actress, dancer, author, gravure idol and singer born in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

. She also had a J-pop career in the late 1980s to the early 1990s.

Career

Early life

Aya Sugimoto grew up in Kyoto under a "strict" upbringing, making her first foray into the world of entertainment when she began modeling at age 15. Encouraged by her management company, she decided to embark on a singing career.

Singer and author (1988–2003)

She released nine singles and six albums between 1988 and 1991, including the number 1 hits "Boys" and "Gorgeous". Her most recent album in 1995 (''Femme Fatale'') followed a hiatus following her marriage to music producer Toshinori Numata. As writer of many of her own lyrics which included erotic themes, she decided to turn her attention to writing erotic novels, publishing works including ''The Rules of Supreme Pleasure'', ''Immoral'' and the book-length 2004 essay, ''Orgasm Life''. In July 2003, Sugimoto went through a high-profile divorce from her husband of 11 years. Sugimoto claimed that there was not enough sex in her marriage, and the term "sexless divorce" became a catch-phrase among frustrated wives in Japan. Sugimoto said, "I didn't think it was such a big deal. I actually thought that it was a healthier reason for wanting out than a lot of other mud-dragging type of divorces."

Acting (2003–)

After the notoriety she gained from the publicity surrounding the divorce, Sugimoto was one of the outspoken guests on the Friday late-night

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

talk show, ''Yearnings of the Goddess''. As an actress, she then appeared in the role of Queen Beryl in the 2003-2004 TV series ''

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The serie ...

'', a live action adaptation of the 1990s

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series. In 2004, she starred in director Takashi Ishii's remake of

Oniroku Dan was a Japanese author who has been called, "the most celebrated writer of popular SM novels in Japan." Many of his stories have been filmed, most notably by Nikkatsu studio in their ''Roman Porno'' series. Dan had a close professional associati ...

's S&M novel, '' Flower and Snake''. Working with bondage master

Go Arisue is one of the world's top kinbakushi (Japanese bondage artists). Born in 1954 he became interested in rope bondage at an early age inspired by paintings of the legendary bondage artist Seiu Ito and the works of Akira Minomura. His career bega ...

, she reprised the role first played by

Naomi Tani is a Japanese pink film actress who is best known for her appearances in Nikkatsu's ''Roman Porno'' films with an S&M theme during the 1970s. Life and career Early Born October 20, 1948, in the Hakata ward of Fukuoka, Naomi Tani moved to Toky ...

in director

Masaru Konuma is a Japanese film director known for his ''Roman Porno'' films for Nikkatsu during the 1970s. Life and career Early life Masaru Konuma was born in Otaru, Hokkaidō, on December 30, 1937. Konuma retains no memories of his father who was a teac ...

's version of the novel, '' Flower and Snake'' (

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

). She spent approximately 75% of her screen time unclothed and participating in humiliating sexual acts but went on in the same year to be voted the second sexiest woman in Asia by Playboy magazine, beaten only by

Zhang Ziyi Zhang Ziyi (; ; born 9 February 1979) is a Chinese actress and model. She is regarded as one of the Four Dan Actresses of China. Her first major role was in '' The Road Home'' (1999). She later gained international recognition for her role in ...

. In 2006 Sugimoto appeared alongside Japanese adult actress

Sora Aoi is a Japanese former AV idol, nude model, and film and television actress. Starring in more than 600 adult films between 2002 and 2011, Aoi is widely considered one of the most famous AV idols of the 2000s, with her popularity as an adult video a ...

in the midnight manga-inspired comedy-drama ''Shimokita Glory Days'' on

. The show also featured other adult actresses such as

Yuma Asami , is a Japanese actress, singer, and a former adult video (AV) actress and model. Starring in more than 600 adult films between 2005 and 2013, Asami was widely recognized as one of Japan's most famous and acclaimed adult film actresses with her p ...

in a story about a male college student moving to Tokyo and living in a shared house of women. Each of the twelve episodes were presented as 'lessons' which featured sexual themes and nudity. Sugimoto stated in an interview about the series that “society can’t consist only of ‘high-quality’ elements, and that's also true for visual eroticism as well.” In September 2008, Sugimoto became the first Japanese model in

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...

's international nude

anti-fur Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific i ...

campaign. In November 2008 she performed a tango interpretation of the story of

Sada Abe was a Empire of Japan, Japanese geisha and prostitute who murdered her lover, , via strangulation on May 18, 1936, before cutting off his Human penis, penis and testicles and carrying them around with her in her kimono. The story became a natio ...

, a notorious prostitute who asphyxiated and castrated her lover. Titled ''Tango Nostalgia'', the show was an extension of her performances on

Nippon Television JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...

's Urinari Geinojin Shako Dansu-bu (ウリナリ芸能人社交ダンス部, a Japanese TV show similar to

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

in which she performed with comedian

Kiyotaka Nanbara (born 13 February 1965, in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture) is a Japanese television host and comedian. He is known as the boke of the manzai duo Utchan Nanchan with Teruyoshi Uchimura. Career In 1985, while attending the Yokohama Broadcasting ...

. Sugimoto is currently a regular on the NTV variety show ''Majyotachi no 22ji'', offering advice as a "love expert", alongside transgender entertainer

Ai Haruna is a Japanese transgender TV personality and singer. In October 2009, Haruna won the "Miss International Queen 2009" transgender beauty pageant held in Pattaya, Thailand, becoming the first Japanese contestant to win the title. Discography Si ...

and model Tsubasa Masuwaka.

Discography

Albums

*''Aya'' ( Panam, 1988) – mini album *''Mizu no Naka no Chiisana Taiyou'' ( "The Little Sun in the Water") (Panam, 1988) *''Shakunetsu Densetsu'' ( "Red Hot Legend") (Panam, 1989) – mini album *''Body & Soul'' (Panam, 1990) *''Japanese Dream'' (Panam, 1990) *''Shiseikatsu'' ( "Private Life") (

BMG Victor Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music co ...

, 1991) *''Femme Fatale'' (

Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

, 1995)

Singles

*"Boys" ( Panam, 1988) – Cover version of the 1987

Italo disco Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the early 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, p ...

song by

Sabrina Salerno Sabrina Debora Salerno (born 15 March 1968), known mononymously as Sabrina, is an Italian singer, songwriter, record producer, model, actress and television presenter. During her career, she has sold over 20 million records worldwide and scored ...

*"13nichi no Luna" ( "Luna on the 13th") (Panam, 1988) *"Nichiyoubi wa Dame yo" ( "Sunday is No Good") (Panam, 1989) *"B & S" (Panam, 1990) *"Usagi" ( "Rabbit"） (Panam, 1990) *"Gorgeous" () (Panam, 1990) *"Kagayaitete..." ( "Shine On") (

, 1991) *"Ai ga Shiritai" (愛が知りたい – "I want to Know Love") (BMG Victor, 1992) *"Le Soir ~Eien no Wakare~" () (BMG Victor, 1993)

Filmography

Film

* 1987: ''Shōnan Bakusōzoku: Bomber Bikers of Shonan'' (''Shōnan Bakusōzoku''), dir. Nobutaka Nishizawa and Daiki Yamada * 1993: ''Megami ga kureta natsu'', dir. Takeo Imai * 1994: ''A New Love in Tokyo'' (''Ai no shinsekai''), dir.

Banmei Takahashi (or Tomoaki Takahashi) is a Japanese film director. Takahashi started his career in the pink film industry, making his directorial debut in 1972 with ''Escaped Rapist Criminal''. Due to a disagreement with his producer, Takahashi quit the film i ...

* 1998: ''Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light'' (''Urutoraman Tiga & Urutoraman Daina: Hikari no hoshi no senshi tachi''), dir. Kazuya Konaka * 2002: '' Ultraman Cosmos 2: The Blue Planet'' (''Urutoraman Kosumosu: Za Burū Puranetto''), dir. Tsugumi Kitaura * 2003: '' Jam Films 2'', dir. Hidenori Inoue * 2004: '' Flower and Snake'', dir. Takashi Ishii * 2004: ''Girlfriend: Someone Please Stop the World'', dir. Ryuichi Hiroki * 2005: ''Gokudô no onna-tachi: Jôen'', dir. Hajime Hashimoto * 2005: ''Hana to hebi 2: Pari/Shizuko'', dir. Takashi Ishii * 2006: ''LoveDeath'', dir.

Ryuhei Kitamura (born May 30, 1969) is a Japanese film director, producer, and screenwriter. Biography Early life Kitamura was born in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He dropped out of high school at age 17 and relocated to Sydney, Australia, where he attended a sch ...

* 2006: ''Trapped Ashes'', dir. Sean S. Cunningham, John Gaeta,

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and

Joe Dante Joseph James Dante Jr. (; born November 28, 1946) is an American film director, producer, editor and actor. His films—notably ''Gremlins'' (1984) alongside its sequel, '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990)—often mix 1950s-style B movies wit ...

* 2006: ''

Ghost Train In ghostlore, a ghost train is a phantom vehicle in the form of a locomotive or train. The ghost train differs from other traditional forms of haunting in that rather than being a static location where ghosts are claimed to be present, "the appa ...

'' (''Otoshimono''), dir. Takeshi Furusawa * 2007: ''

Taitei no Ken (aka: The Sword of Alexander) is a series of novels by Baku Yumemakura. They blend samurai action with sci-fi elements. The first novel was adapted into a 2007 movie directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi. Cast * Hiroshi Abe as Yorozu Genkurou *Kyōko Ha ...

'', dir.

Yukihiko Tsutsumi is a Japanese television and film director. He began directing commercials and music promotion videos as an employee of Nihon Television. After spending time abroad, he returned and started his own production company, ''Office Crescendo'', from w ...

* 2008: ''Johnen: Sada no ai'', dir. Rokuro Mochizuki * 2009: ''BLOOD Buraddo'', dir. Ten Shimoyama * 2010: '' Kamen Rider W Forever: A to Z/The Gaia Memories of Fate'' (''Kamen Raidā Daburu Fōebā: Ē tu Zetto/Unmei no Gaia Memori''), dir.

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* 2021: ''Beautiful Lure'', dir. Hiroshi Akabane * 2021: ''Musicophilia'', dir. Masaaki Taniguchi

Television

* 2003: ''

'' as

Queen Beryl The is a group of fictional characters in the '' Sailor Moon'' manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. They are the chief villains of the first story arc in every version of the series, and were first introduced in the first chapter of the manga, "Usa ...

* 2006: ''

Jigoku Shōjo , also known as ''Jigoku Shōjo: Girl from Hell'', is a Japanese anime series conceptualized by Hiroshi Watanabe and produced by SKY Perfect Well Think, Tokyo MX, Wakasa Seikatsu, Fujishoji, Aniplex and Studio Deen. It is directed ...

'' as Hone Onna

References

Sources

* * Ketchum, Jack. (2007). "''Flower and Snake 2'': A Dialogue" in ''Asian Cult Cinema'', #54, pp. 57–62. *
Aya Sugimoto is Nude for PETA
Biography, Photos and video.

External links

Official Blog (Japanese)

Office Aya Official Site (Japanese)

Liberata - Aya Sugimoto's skincare & make-up brand (Japanese)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sugimoto, Aya Japanese actresses Japanese female dancers Japanese television personalities Japanese women pop singers Japanese gravure idols 1968 births Living people People from Kyoto Japanese people of German descent Former Stardust Promotion artists Musicians from Kyoto Prefecture