Masaaki Sakai

Biography

Masaaki Sakai is a Japanese performer born on June 6, 1946, as Masaaki Kurihara, son of renowned comedian Shunji Sakai. He rose to fame with the sounds band The Spiders and later became iconic for his title role in the TV program Saiyūki (Monkey) in the 1970s. Sakai's success led to a solo career, films, and television appearances, as well as forming the band Sans Filtre in 1999. He is also an avid car enthusiast and martial artist.