Saori Sugimoto

Saori Sugimoto (杉本 沙織) was a Japanese voice actress known for voicing Ramurin Makiba and Nyakkii Momoyama in Shima Shima Tora no Shimajirō, Martina von Trapp in Trapp Family Story, Kisanta Yamamura in Nintama Rantarō, and Sanae Minami in Green Green.

Biography
Saori Sugimoto, a native of Fujisawa, Kanagawa, was born on 17 November 1964. She was educated at Aonijuku's Tokyo campus, where she was part of the sixth graduating class. She voiced Asuka in Fist of the North Star 2, which she later said was her debut role.

She was nationally-known as a voice actress in children's programming. In 1993, she began voicing Ramurin Makiba in Shima Shima Tora no Shimajirō and continued doing so afterwards; she also voiced Nyakkii Momoyama. She also voiced Kisanta Yamamura in Nintama Rantarō, succeeding Tomiko Suzuki. She also starred as Martina von Trapp in Trapp Family Story, Catherine Bloom in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, and Sanae Minami in Green Green. On 1 January 2003, she changed her stage name from Saori Suzuki (鈴木 砂織) to Saori Sugimoto.

Sugimoto was a licenced chef and nutritionist. She collected spoons as a hobby and her special skill was flower therapy.

Sugimoto took a career hiatus from May 2017 until April 2018 due to health issues. Sugimoto died on 21 October 2021, aged 56, due to congestive heart failure associated with anorexia. Her family held a private funeral on 28 October. An in memoriam caption was added to the end of the 30 October 2021 broadcast of Shimajiro no Wao!.