Japanese Celebrities in America

[Cheery Cherry]

Hello everyone. I am sorta new here so I'm not sure if this has been discussed already. If so, I apologize.

I am interested in finding Japanese actors/actresses who star in American movies or Japanese singers who are fairly well known (maybe in some states?) in America or even Japanese model(s) who have done some work in America. I don't know of any (besides Mr. Miyagi in Karate Kid - I think he was Hawaiian?) or maybe I just haven't noticed.

I know there are quite a few Chinese actors/actresses who have starred in American movies and I think that's wonderful.

Anyone know of any Japanese Celebrities who have made it in America?

 

[pinson27]

I know that Utada Hikaru is from New York and i have never seen her anywhere in the media except for one time when there was this commercial about a cellular phone or a video game console. She was singing in it but but that's all, her face was never shown

 

[JimmySeal]

I think Ken Watanabe is fairly well known for his role in The Last Samurai. Nobody else comes to mind.

 

[Qu_Qu]

there are some american-born japanese popular local news broadcast personalities through out the us.

 

[taehyun]

Nnnn...
In "Babel" there are two I've often seen on the TV in Japan...
Tohru Nakamura starred in "New York Cop",and "The Blue Tiger" some time ago.
Masaya Katoh did some movies abroad, like "Seventh Floor","Crime Broker" and " The Crying freeman".
And Chiaki Kuriyama, in "Kill Bill"...
Also, Hiroyuki Saneda in " Shanghai ..."(forgot the name, sorry)
But except "Kill Bill" and "Babel" most movies are very old.

 

[craftsman]

This is not specifically about America but a lot of forum members aren't American, so I thought I'd internationalise the thread. I hope you don't mind.

Some of you may know Hiroyuki Sanada from Tom Cruise's 'The last Samurai ' and Oji Yamada's 2004 Oscar-nominated film, 'The Twighlight Samurai'.



Sanada is well known for playing the 'fool' in an English-language production of "King Lear" with members of the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company in London. He was the first Japanese actor to play with the RSC and received an honorary MBE (Member of the British Empire) award from the Queen for this work.

 

[Qu_Qu]

what's the name of japanese-american actor on star trek,george sakai ?

 

[Iron Chef]

George Takei actually. Don't forget Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa whose long list of screen credits are usually limited to the evil Asian villain-archetype (heh).

http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0846480/

 

[ArmandV]

George Takei actually.

Did you know that George Takei did some of the dubbing for the 2nd Godzilla movie, Godzilla Raids Again that is known in the U.S. as Gigantis The Fire Monster?

 

[Nana007]

Yoshiki from X Japan lives in LA.

 

[Cheery Cherry]

Very interesting. I've been checking out all the ones mentioned above but I don't see any Japanese women...that's too bad .

 

[Flashjeff]

Well, does Masaharu Morimoto from Iron Chef count? He owns restaurants in New York and here in Philly.

 

[hayashi]

The most recognizable Japanese celebrities in America are probably baseball players Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui.

 

[tomodachi]

I think Ken Watanabe is the most well known at this time in the United States. I believe only three Japanese actors have a star on the Walk of Fame. Perhaps Ken Watanabe will be the fourth. I still think he was robbed of the Oscar for his role in The Last Samurai. I just saw Letters from Iwo Jima last night. It won a Golden Globe Award last week. Ken Watanabe attended the event with his wife. I find it difficult to get Japanese movies here. Fortunately I have friends in Japan who send me copies of Ken Watanabe's movies. I also have several of Hiroyuki Sanada's movies.

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of Memory of Tomorrow(Ashita no Kioku) and a copy of Ken Watanabe's autobiography. I would prefer one in English if it has been printed in English. Also would like subtitles, not dubbed, in the movie as I only understand a miniscule amount of Japanese. In addition I would like to get copies of Ken Watanbe's CD's.

 

[Yoko_Kisaragi]

Devon Aoki is only 1/2 Japanese but I have seen her in a couple of movies and I know she's a fairly well known model if you are into that sort of thing. There's also Chiaki Kuriyama from Kill Bill.

 

[francescaholloway]

actors

i think ken wantabe from the last samuari kimiko lakeland florida