is a Japanese

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, best known for his work in

Hong Kong action films Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese and Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling and aesthetic traditions, which Hong Kon ...

. He holds

dan rank The ranking system is used by many Japanese, Okinawan, Korean, and other martial art organizations to indicate the level of a person's ability within a given system. Used as a ranking system to quantify skill level in a specific domain, it was ...

s in

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

(7th degree),

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

(3rd degree), and

Aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in around 1 ...

(2nd degree).

Biography

Kurata was born and raised in Sakura-mura,

Niihari District, Ibaraki was a district located in Ibaraki, Japan. The district was dissolved on March 27, 2006. The district had only one village before dissolution: * Tamari Timeline (Heisei Era, 1989-2006) * January 1, 1992 - The village of Chiyoda was elevated to t ...

(now part of

Tsukuba is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 244,528 in 108,669 households and a population density of 862 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 20.3%. The total ar ...

). Kurata studied performing arts at

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice, in 1889. ...

and Toei Theater School. In 1966, Kurata began his career as an actor in ''

Marude Dameo is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenji Morita ( 森田拳次). The series stars an elementary school boy named , who has little success with anything he tries, and a robot named , which is good with housekeeping. It was ...

'', a Japanese TV series. In 1971, Kurata made his

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

debut in the

Shaw Brothers Studio Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, and operated from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shangh ...

kung-fu movie ''

Angry Guest ''Angry Guest'' or E ke is a 1972 Shaw Brothers film directed by Chang Cheh from Hong Kong, starring David Chiang and Ti Lung, it is a sequel to Duel of Fists. Synopsis Fan Ke (David Chiang) and Wenlie (Ti Lung) are back, and this time they ...

'' (悪客). Since then he has appeared in numerous other films and TV series within the genre. In Japan, he gained popularity for his role in the television series ''

G-Men '75 was a long-running prime-time popular television detective series in Japan. It aired on Saturday nights in the 9:00–9:54 p.m. time slot on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) network from May 24, 1975 to April 3, 1982. A sequel, ''G-Men ' ...

''. He is perhaps best known for his extended battle against

Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, Chinese martial arts, martial artist, and retired wushu (sport), Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singapo ...

in ''

Fist of Legend ''Fist of Legend'' ( zh, , t=精武英雄, j=Zing1 Mou2 Jing1 Hung4) is a 1994 Hong Kong martial arts film directed and co-written by Gordon Chan, featuring action choreography by Yuen Woo-ping, and produced by Jet Li, who also stars in the l ...

'' and for his villainous role in '' So Close''. He is fluent in Cantonese. He was close friends with

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

during his career. In addition to his work as an actor, Kurata runs the stunt agency Kurata Promotion (established 1976 under the name Kurata Action Club), teaches at a private college (the University of Creation, Art, Music & Social Work), is chief advisor to the All Japan Nunchaku League, and in 2004 published a book, . He is running karate dojos in Tokyo, Osaka and Hong Kong.

Filmography

Films

Television

Other

References

External links

Yasuaki Kurata at All movie.com

Yasuaki Kurata at animenewsnetwork.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurata, Yasuaki Japanese male actors 1946 births Living people People from Ibaraki Prefecture Japanese aikidoka Japanese male judoka Japanese male karateka Japanese expatriates in Hong Kong Japanese male film actors Japanese male television actors Hong Kong people of Japanese descent Hong Kong male film actors Hong Kong male television actors Shaw Brothers Studio Nihon University alumni 20th-century Japanese people 21st-century Japanese people