Yuji_Okumoto

Yuji Okumoto

Yuji Okumoto

American actor (born 1959)


Yuji Don Okumoto (雄二・ドン・奥本, Yūji Don Okumoto, born April 20, 1959) is an American actor of Japanese descent. He is best known for his role as Chozen Toguchi in The Karate Kid franchise. He has also appeared in such films as Better Off Dead, Real Genius (both 1985), True Believer (1989), American Yakuza (1993), Contact (1997), The Truman Show (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), Only the Brave (2006), Inception (2010) and Driven (2018).

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Early life

Okumoto, a third generation Japanese American (Sansei), was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.[1] He began karate at age 13, studying under various sensei. By the time of The Karate Kid Part II, the 27-year-old Okumoto held a brown belt in Karate, and had learned basic skills in other martial arts, including Kung Fu and Judo. His Judo Instructor was Hayward Nishioka, his Chitō-ryū Karate Sensei was Yukinori Kugimiya, his Kajukenbo Instructor was Sensei Ron Takaragawa, and his Yau Kung Moon Sifu was Kevin Quock.[2][3]

He graduated from Hollywood High School and Cal State Fullerton, where he studied acting.[1]

Career

His performance in the play Indians led to being signed by an agent, and eventually a role on The Young and the Restless. His first roles were in The Check is in the Mail, Real Genius, and Better Off Dead.[1] Perhaps his most well-known role is as Daniel's rival, Chozen Toguchi in the 1986 film, The Karate Kid Part II.[1] In 2005, he was Yukio Nakajo in Lane Nishikawa's film Only the Brave about the Japanese American segregated fighting unit, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team of World War II. This film also included two other Karate Kid stars, Tamlyn Tomita and Pat Morita.[1] Other credits include his role as Shu Kai Kim, a character based on Chol Soo Lee, in the 1989 film True Believer, Pete Kapahala in the 1999 Disney Channel original movie Johnny Tsunami, Japanese navy lieutenant (海軍大尉, Kaigun-Daii) Zenji Abe in Pearl Harbor, and Bruce Takedo in the television series, Bones.[1] He is a producer for the 2020 independent film The Paper Tigers, in which he has a small role as well.[4]

In 2021, Okumoto reprised his Karate Kid II role as Chozen Toguchi, who, beginning with Season 3 of Cobra Kai, is now a friend and ally of Daniel.[5][6][7][8]

Personal life

Okumoto lives in Seattle, Washington, with his wife Angela and their three daughters.[9] They own and run a Hawaiian-themed restaurant, Kona Kitchen/Yuji's Bar & Lounge.[9][10][11][12]

Filmography

Film

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Television

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Video games

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References

  1. "Meet Yuji Okumoto". konakitchen.com. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  2. Matthew (2009-02-06). "Interview: Yuji Okumoto, Actor/Director/Martial Artist". Ikigai Way. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  3. Langmann, Brady (2021-12-31). "Cobra Kai's Season 4 Finale Had Nearly Too Many Twists to Keep Up With". Esquire. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  4. Show, Gee (2021-01-19). "'Cobra Kai' actor, co-owner of Seattle restaurant on how show became Netflix hit". MyNorthwest. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  5. Karlinski, Marla (2021-02-04). "Local actor Yuji Okumoto kicks butt in 'Cobra Kai'". Seattle Refined. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  6. Baldwin, Kristen (2020-12-18). "Yuji Okumoto on Cobra Kai season 3: 'Chozen has gone through a lot of soul searching'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  7. Luthman, Jenna (2016-08-16). "Karate Kid II star owns awesome Seattle restaurant". Seattle Refined. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  8. "True Crime: Streets of LA (2003 Video Game)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 28 April 2021. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)

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