Posted in: Netflix, streaming, TV | Tagged: cobra kai, netflix, Ralph Macchio, Tamlyn Tomita, The Karate Kid Part II, Yuji Okumoto

Cobra Kai: Yuji Okumoto Talks Career & Karate Kid Sequel Series Return

Yuji Okumoto has been one of the most reliable character actors in Hollywood nearly celebrating 40 years in front and occasionally behind the camera. Making his feature debut in comedies Real Genius and Better Off Dead… in 1985, the actor would find his signature role early in his breakout performance as the antagonist Chozen Toguchi in The Karate Kid Part II (1986) that saw Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) travel to his sensei Nariyoshi Miyagi's (Pat Morita) childhood home in Okinawa, Japan to visit his dying father and confront his old rival. Daniel gets caught in another love triangle that sees him fall in love with Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita) and fight the bitter Chozen. Okumoto spoke with Illuminate Magazine to talk about his career and Chozen's return in the Netflix sequel series Cobra Kai.

"I was extremely shy as a kid, very quiet," Okumoto said reflecting when the acting bug got him. "I think back on my high school days and I'm sure not many people knew who I was, being that I would hardly talk to folks. I needed to find a way to express myself. After graduating high school, I attended a junior college, trying to figure out what I wanted to do in life. While there, I started taking a dance class, jazz to be exact. From there I took an acting class. I thought to myself, I may have found my outlet. I eventually transferred to Cal State University Fullerton where I majored in Communications. You need to have a fallback degree, my parents would always say. Well, there was no fallback for me. I got bored with school and left to jump headfirst into acting. My first stop was the Asian American theater company, East West Players in Los Angeles. I signed with a commercial agent after doing a small part in a play and that led to me signing with a theatrical agent."

Cobra Kai originally premiered on YouTube before moving to the streaming service for season three that saw Daniel make a personal pilgrimage to Japan for his business and revisit his late sensei's home while seeing some familiar faces with Okumoto and Tomita reprising their roles. "Who would've thought I'd be reprising my character of Chozen thirty-three years later?" Okumoto said. "I remember having a conversation with the writers/producers of 'Cobra Kai' in 2019 about Chozen's reintroduction. What I loved about the writers was their willingness to listen to my take on the character. I really enjoyed the fact that the character did go through an evolution without losing any of his strength. As much as Chozen's version of honor was a bit skewed in Karate Kid, it was still a big part of his present life. And that is where his growth comes into play, his understanding of what the true meaning of honor is."

Okumoto's own history shares the recurring theme of using martial arts as a source of empowerment consistent with the series. "Don't we all wish we had a Miyagi in our lives?" he said. "I started studying martial arts when I was in middle school. There were two reasons why I did. The first, being a minority, you're always going to have a target on your back. I was bullied in school, so I asked my parents if I could take karate to protect myself. There was a nearby community center that was teaching Chito-Ryu karate and that was my introduction to martial arts. The second reason for getting into martial arts was Bruce Lee. I remember watching his movies back in the day. I'm sure many teens were knocking themselves in the head, swinging nunchucks, trying to emulate him. To me, the man was not only responsible for the popularity of martial arts, but he changed the perception of who we are as Asian American men in film. He was such an inspiration."

The conclusion of the fourth season sees Chozen reunited with Daniel at the gravesite of Miyagi, who swore he'd do everything he can to stop Cobra Kai with no intention to keep his promise "with men who have no honor" in shutting down his own dojo. For more on how Okumoto's career, working with Tomita and Macchio again, how he feels Asians are represented in media, his other recent projects, and his restaurant, head on over to Illuminate Magazine for the complete interview.

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