Saigō made his debut in 1964 with the song "Kimi Dake o", for which he won a
Japan Record Award for best new artist. As an actor, he has portrayed people as varied as 20th century Prime Minister
Kakuei Tanaka (in the 1983 film
Shōsetsu Yoshida Gakkō) and 16th century samurai
Katakura Kagetsuna (in the 1987 NHK
Taiga drama Dokuganryū Masamune). A native of
Kagoshima, he has played the roles of native sons such as
Kuroda Kiyotaka and
Saigō Tsugumichi, but his characters also include
Tokugawa Ieyasu,
Yagyū Jūbei and
Hattori Hanzō. His roles in
Chūshingura tales have included Mōri Koheita (1985). Saigō has starred in various prime-time television series. These include
Edo o Kiru, Genkurō Tabi Nikki Aoi no Abarenbō, Abare Hasshū Goyō Tabi, and
Abare Isha Ranzan. NHK has tapped him for various
Taiga drama roles as well. Among them are
Mōri Hiromoto (in
Mōri Motonari, 1997),
Sanada Yukimura (
Aoi Tokugawa Sandai, 2000), and
Honda Masanobu (NHK's
Taiga drama Musashi, 2003) in addition to Katakura Kagetsuna. Other NHK roles have included the contemporary daytime drama
Niji no Sekkei (1964) and the uncle of the title character in the
asadora Wakaba (2004–05). On 21 February 2022, Sun Music, Saigo's management company, made an announcement that he died after a long battle with
prostate cancer in Tokyo, on 20 February. ==Filmography==