was a Japanese comedian, actor, and singer.

Career

Sakagami was born in

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

but spent most of his childhood in

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

. Winning an

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

song contest at age 19, he headed to Tokyo to try to make a name in the entertainment business, eventually training as a comedian at the

Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known for Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as . History The development of Asaku ...

strip clubs. It was there that he met Kin'ichi Hagimoto and in 1966, the two formed the

owarai is a broad word used to describe Japanese comedy as seen on television. The word ''owarai'' is the Honorific speech in Japanese#Honorific prefixes, honorific form of the word ''warai'' (by adding o- prefix), meaning "a laugh" or "a smile". '' ...

duo Konto 55-gō. Konto 55-gō became nationally famous, starring in several top-rated shows on television. Sakagami continued to release songs and branched out into acting, appearing in television dramas as well as in films such as

Nagisa Ōshima was a Japanese filmmaker, writer, and left-wing activist who is best known for his fiction films, of which he directed 23 features in a career spanning from 1959 to 1999. He is regarded as one of the greatest Japanese directors of all time, and ...

's ''

Taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

''. He died of a stroke on 10 March 2011 at a

Tochigi Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,897,649 (1 June 2023) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi ...

hospital.

Partial filmography

* ''Hatsukoi sengen'' (1968) - Manager * ''Hakuchû dôdô'' (1968) * ''Konto gojugo-go: Seiki no daijukuten'' (1968) - Yota Kitagawa * ''Kamisama no koibito'' (1968) * ''Hitokiri-O Castigo'' (1969) * '' Konto 55-gō jinrui no daijakuten'' (コント55号人類の大弱点) (1969) * ''Konto55go-ore wa ninja no mago'' (1969) - Konto55 * ''Mito Kômon man'yûki'' (1969) - Jirobei * '' Konto 55-gō uchū no daibōken'' (コント55号宇宙大冒険) (1969) * ''Namida no nagashi uta inochi azukemasu'' (1970) - Patron * ''Kigeki sore ga otoko no ikiru michi'' (1970) * ''Futari de hitori'' (1970) * ''Fuji Keiko Waga uta no arukagiri'' (1971) * ''Konto Gojugo-go to Miko no zettai zetsumei'' (1971) - Jiro Sakamoto * ''

The Last Samurai ''The Last Samurai'' is a 2003 American epic period action drama film directed and produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz from a story devised by Logan. The film stars Tom Cruise, ...

'' (1974) * ''Kigeki damashi no jingi'' (1974) * ''Kigeki: onna no naki-dokoro'' (1975) * ''Hadashi no seishun'' (1975) * ''Seisyun no Kôzu'' (1976) - Gorô Sakaguchi * ''Omatsuri yarô: uogashi no kyôdai-bun'' (1976) * ''Inubue'' (1978) - Cab driver * ''Edo no Taka'' (1978)- House keeper/Spy * '' Nutcracker Fantasy'' (1979) - Chinese Wiseman (Japanese version, voice) * ''Kindaichi Kosuke no boken'' (1979) - Goemon Ishida * ''

The Highest Honor ''The Highest Honour'' is a 1982 Australian/Japanese co-production about Operation Jaywick and Operation Rimau by Z Special Unit during World War II. The same story inspired the TV mini-series '' Heroes'' (1988) and '' Heroes II: The Return'' ...

'' (1982) - Kimura * ''Kono ko no nanatsu no oiwai ni'' (1983) - Ikumatsu * '' Amagigoe'' (天城越え Amagigoe) (1983) - Sweet Shop Owner * ''Okinawa no shonen'' (1983) - Production chief * ''Shiosai'' (1985) * ''

A Class to Remember A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'' (学校 Gakko) (1993) * ''Kappa'' (1994) - Village Mayor * ''

Anne no Nikki is a 1995 Japanese animated historical film based on Anne Frank's 1942-1944 ''The Diary of a Young Girl''. It is a feature film by Madhouse (company), Madhouse, was directed by Akinori Nagaoka and released on August 19, 1995. Voice cast Produ ...

'' (1995) - Mr. Hans Van Dann (Hermann van Pels) (voice) * ''Sada: Gesaku · Abe Sada no shôgai'' (1998) - Risaburo Miyazaki * ''

'' (御法度 Gohatto) (1999) - Lieutenant Genzaburo Inoue * ''Drug'' (2001) - Shoichiro Hirakawa * ''Shin yukiguni'' (2001) - Kobayashi * ''Fukumimi'' (2003) * ''Hokushin naname ni sasu tokoro'' (2007) - Sanada (final film role)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sakagami, Jiro Japanese male comedians Japanese male film actors Japanese male stage actors Japanese male television actors Japanese male voice actors 1934 births 2011 deaths Singers from Kagoshima Prefecture Actors from Kagoshima Prefecture 20th-century Japanese male actors 20th-century Japanese male singers 20th-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese male actors 21st-century Japanese male singers 21st-century Japanese singers