After some roles in minor television series, he appeared for the first time in an NHK taiga drama, Mominoki wa Nokotta in 1970.
(A different Araki, the hatamoto Jūzaemon, was his character in a later film, The Fall of Ako Castle, directed by Kinji Fukasaku.)
Other Edo period roles have included Katsu Kaishū, Kondō Isami, Nakajima Saburōsuke, Ōkubo Ichiō, and Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi.
In the mid-1970s, Wakabayashi took prominent contemporary roles, appearing as a detective in Taiyō ni Hoero!, Oretachi no Kunshō, and G-Men '75.
This article incorporates material from 若林豪 (Wakabayashi Gō) in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on March 4, 2008.