[1] She was a five-time all-around national champion and competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics, where she finished 29th in the individual all around.
Her parents were both gymnasts; her father, Hiroshi Sugawara won a silver team medal at the men's gymnastics event at the 1974 Asian Games, and her mother, Takako Hasegawa, competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
[4] Her older brother, Fumihito Sugawara [ja], is a politician who became the mayor of Toda in 2018.
[2] At the 1997 Summer Universiade, she won gold in the balance beam and floor finals, along with a silver on uneven bars and a bronze medal in the team event.
She has also spoken about her struggles with disordered eating to maintain her body weight during her time as a gymnast and the changing trend in women's gymnastics toward building more muscle in order to complete difficult elements.