Tsutomu Shinohara is a Japanese manga artist born on April 28, 1936 in Niihama, Ehime Prefecture. After graduating from high school in 1955, he briefly worked at an automobile parts factory in Osaka before leaving after only ten months. He pursued his interest in manga through a correspondence course and began submitting work to various manga magazines. His first commercially printed work, Fukumenhakushi, was published in 1958, marking the official start of his career as a manga artist.

Shinohara is best known for the Sasori series, which began in 1970. The title translates to scorpion and refers to a female inmate and heroine. This series was adapted into a successful film franchise starting in 1972, beginning with Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion directed by Shunya Ito and starring Meiko Kaji. Many of his other works have also been turned into films since 1972. He is also recognized for Nippon Keibaden, a manga that detailed the history of Japan's horse racing industry.

One of his notable manga series is Chūhai Lemon, which was serialized in Kodansha's Young Magazine starting on June 20, 1983. The story is a police procedural featuring a muscular, gorilla-like Tokyo police detective with a distinctive mustache and rough manners. The script was written by Fumimura Shō. In 1985, this manga was adapted into an anime video animation titled Chūhai Lemon LOVE 30S, directed and designed by Koizumi Kenzō.

Shinohara's artistic identity is characterized by a robust drawing style and a focus on strong, resilient characters. He is known for creating amazon-like heroines who are never daunted by the hardship they endure, as well as tough, masculine male protagonists. His career began in the late 1950s, and he gained significant recognition throughout the 1970s and 1980s. His work on Sasori contributed to the female prisoner subgenre of Japanese exploitation films, securing his place in the history of both manga and cinema.