Masaki Sumitani

A picture of Hard Gay in action, taken from a Japanese television show.

Razor Ramon HG (レイザーラモン HG、sometimes alternatively translated as Laser Ramon HG) is the performing name of Masaki Sumitani (住谷正樹 Sumitani Masaki), a Japanese comedian and tarento (“talent”). His act gained national attention and great popularity when featured on the Bakusho-Mondai no Bakuten! (Daibakuten) Saturday variety show on TBS Television in Japan, in 2005. He should not be confused with American professional wrestler Scott Hall, whose use of the “Razor Ramon” stage name appears to predate Sumitani’s.

Early career

Masaki Sumitani was born December 18, 1975 in Harima, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. He is 185 cm and weighs 90 kg, with a blood type of B. He attended Higashi Kakogawa High School. After graduating from Higashi Kakogawa High School, he entered Doshisha University and majored in Commerce. While at college he picked up wrestling as a hobby, and soon joined the Doshisha Professional Wrestling Alliance (DWA). Under his performing name “GiveUp Sumitani,” he won the heavy class Kyoto pro-wrestling championship co-hosted by DWA and the Ritsumeikan Wrestling Alliance (RWA) of nearby Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto.

It was through wrestling in their college years, that Sumitani met Makoto Izubuchi, with whom he would later form the comedy duo “Razor Ramon” in 1997. During their college years, Razor Ramon won the “Fukuwarai award” in the Imamiya Kids’ Ebisu Manzai Contest, and gained experience on the stage through the audition live performance “SABUKI” at “2chome-gekijo,” an Osaka comedy club opened by the Yoshimoto Kogyo comedy troupe at which many comedians from the Kansai area start their career.

After completing his university education, Sumitani got a job at CO-OP KOBE, as grocery delivery person. His desire to pursue a career as a professional comedian led him to quit his job after four months, when he joined Yoshimoto Kogyo with his partner Makoto Izubuchi. “Razor Ramon” made their TV debut in 1999, and won the “Judges’ Special Award” in the “ABC Owarai (Comedy) Grand-Prix” in 2000. Both Sumitani and Izubuchi joined the Yoshimoto Kogyo-produced program Yoshimoto Shin-kigeki, one of the most popular comedy stage acts in Japan, in 2001, often playing the role of a yakuza, sarariman, udon restaurant owner, construction worker, and others.

Hard Gay

The most well-known character developed and portrayed by Sumitani is that of Hard Gay (ハードゲイ), introduced in 2002, and with which he has rose to national comedic prominence. While the official name is “Razor Ramon HG,” he is most frequently known as “Hard Gay,” or simply HG. Dressing in a tight black leather outfit reminiscent of the stylings of the Village People, he goes around performing acts of charity (yonaoshi, “social improvement”) for unsuspecting bystanders while simultaneously incorporating plenty of pelvic thrusting and vocal exultations. His music of choice for dancing on camera is usually “Livin’ La Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin. According to some accounts, the name came at the suggestion of Sumitani’s senior comedian in the Yoshimoto Kogyo group, Kendo Kobayashi, in reference to his “hard” dancing. The name has also been described as a pun on 芸, “gei,” which means “skill” or “art.” To develop his character, Sumitani visited gay bars in Doyama-cho, Osaka’s biggest gay area. His costume, which consists of black leather hot pants, a small vest, cap and sunglasses, is from a shop called “VFTQ” in Minami-Horie, Osaka, which specializes in gay fashion.

Hard Gay makes regular use of a number of catch phrases in his act; he usually makes his entrance in front of the camera shouting “Do〜mo〜 Dokkaradoumitemo Haado gay de〜su” (Hello, this is Hard Gay), with arms thrust out and a spin afterwards. His self-introduction is then followed by his famous “dance” moves. He shouts “fuuuuuu” (フゥ～!) after any phrase that comes into his mind, as a running joke. He often stops people saying unfavourable things to him by shouting “sei sei sei sei sei” with his palm in front of the person’s face. Whether this means anything is debatable, although Sumitani has commented that “sei sei” is something that comes out from his mouth when he is happy, and that he does not mean “say” as in to speak something.

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