Masaki Sumitani

Sumitani attended East Kakogawa High School, and after graduating attended Doshisha University where he majored in Commerce. Doshisha is known for its being a very pro-Western type of school, and it is most likely while studying there that Sumitani came into contact with the world of American pro-wrestling, as Sumitani himself had taken up wrestling as a hobby during his years at Doshisha. He had even joined the Doshisha Professional Wrestling Alliance (DWA) under the ring name of "GiveUp Sumitani". During his time in the DWA he won the heavy class Kyoto pro-wrestling championship that was co-hosted by the DWA and the Ritsumeikan Wrestling Alliance (RWA). The RWA being the wrestling league of nearby Ritsumeikan University.

During his wrestling years in college, Sumitani met the man who would become his partner in crime during the era of Hard Gay, Makoto Debuchi. Together they would form the comedy duo "Razor Ramon" in 1997. They won the Fukuwarai Award at the Imamiya Kids' Ebisu Manzai Contest, and even auditioned for a live performance at SABUKI, an Osaka comedy club run by the Yoshimoto Kogyo comedy troupe. Yoshimoto Kogyo is where many comedians in the Kansai area start their careers off.

After finishing his university education Sumitani got a job at a grocery store, (CO-OP KOBE), delivering groceries. However his will to become a professional comedian led him to quit his job after four months and join the Yoshimoto Kogyo with his partner Makoto Izubuchi. "Razor Ramon" made their first appearance on TV in 1999 and won the "Judges' Special Award" in the "ABC Comedy Grand-Prix" in 2000. The duo joined the Yoshimoto Kogyo-produced program Yoshimoto Shin-kigaeki, which was one of the most popular stage acts in Japan. They often played the roles of yakuza, salaryman, udon restaurant owner, construction worker, and many others.

There are rumors floating around that Sumitani is currently engaged to be married with former Miniskirt Police girl Suzuki Anna. While these are not confirmed yet, it has been said that Sumitani having a girlfriend will hurt his image as Hard Gay. The Hard Gay section below will have more information about Sumitani's current, and most popular character.

Relation to Hard Gay

Sumitani keeps his life and that of his television character's life as seperate as he possibly can. Whenever he is on a show and he needs to mention his real self, he always says "Sumitani-kun", or something of the sort, rather than just saying, "I". There have also been stories of him after shows running into fans as Sumitani, and the fans would all tell him that he had a good show, his hip thrusts were great tonight, etc. Yet Sumitani would stop them and say, "Tell that to Hard Gay". Being the nice person that he is, he would go back into his dressing room and come back out as HG for his fans.

Random Information

• Real Name: Sumitani Masaki (住谷正樹)
• Birthdate: December 18, 1975
• Birthplace: Harima, Hyogo Prefecture
• Bust: 106cm
• Waist: 89cm
• Hip: 107cm
• Height: 185cm
• Weight: 88kg
• Blood Type: B
• Zodiac: Sagittarius
• Shoe Size: 28cm
• Hobbies: Professional Wrestling, Woodworking, Drawing
• Current Residence: Osaka

Hard Gay

Razor Ramon HG was first introduced in 2002, and it was the character that would rocket Sumitani directly into the spotlight of Japan in 2005. Hard Gay dresses in a tight black leather outfit with the letters HG on the back of his top. His short black hot pants are the stuff of legends, and his sunglasses and black leather cap are almost a permanent fixture on his head. His outfit brings to mind the Village People, but gives off a much different kind of appeal.

HG is known to go about in various cities helping people out all the while trying to be as flamingly gay as possible, incorporating hip thrusts and shouting out various catchphrases. While he's running the Hard Gay gas station, he claims that his "gasoline" is provided by Freddy Mercury. The music that normally accompanies all of this hip thrusting is Ricky Martin's Livin' La Vida Loca.

The name Hard Gay itself is actually a pun on the word geinin (芸人) which means actor or performer. The "gei" part of geinin is how Japanese people pronounce/spell the English word gay. Hard Gay himself uses these types of puns occasionally during his pieces, one prominent example is during the Father's Day Episode he asks a kid to call home using his "Hard Gay-tai", meaning his "Hard Cellphone". The word for cellphone is keitai (携帯), and HG just voiced the 'k' sound turning it into a 'g' to make the pun.