Hinako Sugiura was a manga artist turned Edo-period historian who became one of Japan's most recognizable experts on the era's customs and daily life. Born Junko Suzuki in Minato, Tokyo, she grew up in a family of kimono merchants, which shaped her lifelong fascination with traditional Japan. She studied design at Nihon University but ultimately abandoned formal education to apprentice under author Shisei Inagaki, a specialist in the Edo period. Under his mentorship, she developed the rigorous research methods that would define her work.

Early in her manga career, Sugiura worked as an assistant to Murasaki Yamada, a pioneering feminist mangaka. Her debut, "Tsugen Muro no Ume," appeared in the alternative magazine Garo in 1980, and her style—rooted in ukiyo-e woodblock techniques—immediately set her apart. The historical detail and warmth in her depictions of Edo life earned her serious recognition: the Japan Cartoonists Association Award for Gassō in 1984 and the Bungei Shunjū Manga Award for Fūryū Edo Suzume four years later.

In 1993, she made a deliberate break from manga to focus entirely on Edo-period research, which she considered her true life's work. She authored numerous books on the subject and became a regular media presence as an expert commentator—most memorably on the NHK variety show Comedy: O-Edo de Gozaru, where audiences came to expect her sharp insights delivered in traditional kimono, which she wore almost exclusively in public.

Sugiura was married briefly to novelist and bibliophile Hiroshi Aramata; the press colorfully dubbed them "the beauty and the beast." She was equally famous among friends for her passion for soba noodles and saké.

When she stepped away from O-Edo de Gozaru, she announced plans to fulfill a long-held dream: taking a world cruise. The public didn't learn until her death that she had actually been undergoing cancer treatment in Kashiwa, Chiba. She died of hypopharyngeal cancer at 46.