Ryo Ishibashi

is a Japanese actor and lead singer of the Japanese rock band ARB. He is known around the world for his roles in the Japanese horror films ''Suicide Club'' and ''Audition.'' He is also recognized in America for his role as Nakagawa in ''The Grudge'' and ''The Grudge 2''.

Ishibashi was born in Kurume, Fukuoka, Kyūshū, Japan. He started his career by starting his own band called the ARB (Alexander Ragtime Band) in 1977. The band made their debut in 1978, and made over a dozen albums until they broke up in 1990. Ishibashi has subsequently resumed his musical activity and re-formed ARB with an album, ''Real Life'' in 1998. In 1986, Ishibashi made his movie debut in the film ''A-Hômansu'' in which ARB's 13th single "After 45" was used as its theme song. Ryo Ishibashi has been concentrating on his acting career, and has appeared in several movies outside his native country Japan, and became an internationally recognized celebrity.

He won the award for Best Actor at the 11th Yokohama Film Festival for ''A Sign Days'' and at the 5th Japan Film Professional Awards he took the Best Actor award for his role as a yakuza hitman in ''Another Lonely Hitman''.

Ishibashi has been married to Mieko Harada since 1987 and has three children. Provided by Wikipedia