Ryotaro Shimizu

Ryotaro Shimizu was born on 15 August 1988 in Tokyo, the third son of the impressionist Akira Shimizu, one of the best known names in Japanese monomane (impression) entertainment. He grew up surrounded by his father's work. His eldest brother became an airline pilot and his second brother later worked as their father's manager, according to Josei Seven/News Post Seven.

Shimizu attended Iwakura High School in Tokyo, where he studied in the commerce course and played on the baseball team. He made his television acting debut while still a student there.

Acting: Shimizu debuted in the 2006 NHK taiga drama Kōmyō ga Tsuji. He went on to appear in Elite Yankee Saburo (2007, TV Tokyo), Full Swing (2008, NHK), Cat Street (2008, NHK) and, most prominently, the third series of Gokusen (2008, Nippon TV) as Ryotaro Katsura, reprising the role in Gokusen: The Movie (2009). Later television work included Hanchō (2011, TBS), Setagaya Chūzai Deka (2012) and NHK's Amachan (2013), where he played the young Yukio Hashi. On stage he appeared in productions including the musical Magdalene na Maria (2011).

Impressions: On 18 March 2011 he made his impressions debut on Fuji TV's Bakushō Sokkuri Monomane Kōhaku Uta Gassen Special, his first television appearance alongside his father. In October 2011 he won a celebrity singing championship special singing Yutaka Ozaki's "Boku ga Boku de Aru Tame ni". From 2012 to 2016 he appeared on Fuji TV's Monomane Ōza Ketteisen, with singing impressions of artists such as Koji Tamaki, Yutaka Ozaki, Masaharu Fukuyama and Keisuke Kuwata.

Later work: After his 2017 arrest and dismissal he ran a transport business that closed, fought on BreakingDown 8 in May 2023, and from 2024 performed street lives that he posted to his YouTube channel. He held parent and child concerts with Akira Shimizu in September 2025 and June 2026.

Shimizu married a woman from outside the entertainment industry in May 2016, and their daughter was born in November 2016. Names of his wife and daughter have not been made public. At the time of his death he was living alone in an apartment in Nakano, Tokyo.

In his final years Shimizu spoke about wanting to rebuild trust step by step through live performance. He told Nikkan Sports that he dreamed of opening an impressions show pub in Ginza, noting that such venues existed in Shinjuku and Roppongi but not in Ginza.

Shimizu is remembered as one of the most technically gifted singers of the younger generation of Japanese impressionists, and as the son who followed Akira Shimizu into the family trade. Fellow impressionist Miracle Hikaru described him after his death as a performer of rare individuality and ability. His public fall and his attempts at a comeback were followed closely by the Japanese media, as was the reconciliation with his father on stage in 2025 and 2026.

In October 2011 Shimizu won Fuji TV's celebrity singing championship special, singing Yutaka Ozaki's "Boku ga Boku de Aru Tame ni", which came with a prize of 2 million yen.

Selected television: Kōmyō ga Tsuji (2006), Elite Yankee Saburo (2007), Full Swing (2008), Gokusen series 3 (2008), Cat Street (2008), Hanchō (2011), Setagaya Chūzai Deka (2012), Amachan (2013). Film: Gokusen: The Movie (2009). Stage: Magdalene na Maria (2011) and other productions. Impressions programmes: Bakushō Sokkuri Monomane Kōhaku Uta Gassen Special and Monomane Ōza Ketteisen (Fuji TV). He also ran his own YouTube channel of impressions and street performances.

In February 2017 the magazine FRIDAY reported that Shimizu had visited an illegal casino; he withdrew from a stage musical and suspended activities until June 2017. On 12 October 2017 he was arrested by Tokyo police for stimulant drug use and was dismissed by his agency days later. He received a sentence of 1 year 6 months, suspended for three years. In April 2021 he was arrested on suspicion of injuring his wife, according to Japanese media reports. In 2018 his father said publicly that they would not share a stage again, though the two later performed together in 2025 and 2026.

On the evening of 1 August 2026, a manager found Shimizu unresponsive in his locked apartment in Nakano, Tokyo, where he lived alone. He was confirmed dead at the scene, aged 37. Nikkan Sports and Sponichi reported that police believed it to be a suicide; News Post Seven reported that he may have died several days before he was found. His father announced the death on 2 August 2026 on his official website. A funeral was held later in August, with flowers and messages sent by entertainers including Kuricorn, Naomi Matsui and Rumiko Koyanagi.

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