塩谷庄吾

He began his career as an action stuntman at JAC (current JAE - Japan Action Enterprises), performing roles of monsters in the tokusatsu genre productions. Given his physical size, he was usually featured wearing uniforms of villains or taller, stronger monsters. His first acting role was on the Cybercop series, where he played Akira Hojo / Cybercop Mars in 1988. According to his interviews, Shiotani always wanted to play a hero in this kind of tv shows because he was always a tokusatsu fan. In addition to the career as an actor and stuntman, he starred in over 20 feature films released in video and had more than 15 appearances on television shows, including sitcoms, dramas and variety shows in his home country. In 2001, Shiotani became a victim the then fatal financial crisis in Japan, which put him in a difficult situation. The actor planned to present a project for a new version of Cybercops series that gave him fame. However, by having his claim denied by the producers, Shiotani became severely depressed. On May 5, 2002, with no money and no job, Shiotani committed suicide by jumping from a building in Dougenzaka region. The Yuki Yoshida and Takashi Koura actors attended his funeral.