Name
Yasuaki Kurata
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1946-03-20 (80 years old)
Place of Birth
Niihari, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
Biography
Yasuaki Kurata (born March 20, 1946), a.k.a David Kurata, is a Japanese actor specializing in action movies. An accomplished martial artist, he has dan ranks in karate (5th degree), judo (3rd degree), and aikido (2nd degree). He is perhaps best known for his extended battle against Jet Li in Fist of Legend and for his villainous role in So Close. He is fluent in Cantonese.
Kurata's home town is Sakura-mura, Niihari District, Ibaraki (now part of Tsukuba). Having studied performing arts at Nihon University and Toei Theater School, he began to work as an actor in the late 1960s. In 1971, Kurata made his Hong Kong debut in the Shaw Brothers Studio kung-fu movie Angry Guest . Since then he has appeared in numerous other films and TV series within the genre. 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, Hong Kong Action Star Kōyūroku.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Yasuaki Kurata, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
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Officer Chan Ka Kui manages to put a major Hong Kong drug dealer behind the bars practical...
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Chen returns to his school when he finds out that his martial arts teacher has died. When ...
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What happens when a glamorous express, with high government officials, wealthy merchants, ...
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The third installment in the Lucky Stars series, following Winners and Sinners and My Luck...
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A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima, combining dramatizations...
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A group of former mercenaries reunite to plan an epic heist: boosting a truck full of medi...
- 2009 Blood: The Last Vampire as Kato Takatora
- 1983 Aces Go Places II as Bull
- 2009 Shinjuku Incident as Taro Watagawa
- 1993 Quiet Don 5
- 1992 Quiet Don 3
- 1992 Quiet Don 4
- 1996 Quiet Don 9
- 1995 Quiet Don 7
- 1993 Quiet Don 6
- 1996 Quiet Don 10
- 1985 Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters as Takei
- 2002 Samouraïs as Fujiwara Morio
- 1978 Heroes of the East as Takeno
- 1989 Bloodfight as Masahiko Kai
- 2002 So Close as Master
- 1994 The Fighting King
- 1991 The Devil's Messenger DEATH MESSENGER
- 2010 Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen as Chikaraishis Vater
- 1988 Seven Days War as Sakai
- 1994 Fist of Legend as Fuimo Funakoshi
- 1982 Legend of a Fighter as Teacher Kong Ho San
- 1987 Eastern Condors as Vietnamese Captain
- 2000 Ginza Midnight Story — Utopia 2
- 1986 A Book of Heroes as Yamashita sensei
- 1973 Knight Errant as Tetsuro
- 1973 Ferocious to Ferocious as Yamada
- 1984 Ninja Thunderbolt
- 1973 Kung Fu Powerhouse as Tiger
- 1973 Fist of Unicorn as Sun
- 1974 Call Me Dragon as Panther / Leopard Head
- 1983 Kanei Command Performance
- 2011 Sword of Blood as Genjiro Mishima
- 2023 Enter the Clones of Bruce as Self
- 1972 The Angry Guest as Katsu
- 1974 Little Godfather from Hong Kong as Sakada (Chong)
- 1976 Dragon Princess as Masahiko Okizaki
- 2012 The Last Tycoon
- 2006 GoGo Sentai Boukenger The Movie: The Greatest Precious as Kouichi Akashi
- 1988 Carry On Hotel as Tomohara
- 1972 Tiger as Tze Chiang
- 1978 Edge of Fury as Mr King
- 2000 Quiet Don 11
- 1996 Quiet Don 8
- 1985 Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars as Parachute Assassin
- 1986 The Seventh Curse as Captain Ho
- 1986 Millionaires' Express as Japanese Ninja
- 1974 The Executioner as Kurayamada
- 1972 The King of Boxers as Tu Pien
- 1973 A Gathering of Heroes
- 1991 Zodiac Killers as Ishikawa (cameo)
- 1972 Four Riders as Lei Tai
- 2006 Legend of Seven Monks as Santoku
- 1973 A Girl Called Tigress as Chiau Kung
- 1983 Deadly Life of a Ninja as Iga Ninja Leader
- 1981 Ninja In The Deadly Trap as Shi Ping-Wei, the Ninja Leader
- 1972 Kung Fu: The Invisible Fist as Cpt. Jai Tai
- 1981 Eijanaika as Hanjiro
- 2017 The One as 新右卫门大师
- 1989 Above the War as Cook
- 1977 Secret of the Shaolin Poles as Tiger Lei (as Shoji Kurada)
- 2015 KIRI – Profession: Assassin as Saburi
- 1980 The Magnificent 3 as Japanese tourist
- 1973 Black Panther as Chang Hui-Feng
- 1976 Which Is Stronger, Karate or the Tiger? as Ryuzaki Tetsuji
- 1985 Police Story as Passerby (uncredited)
- 2013 The Wrath of Vajra as Amano Kawao
- 2003 Anna in Kungfu-land as Sword Shek
- Soon Fight! Dragon (TV Pilot) - Dragon Flies to Hong Kong. as Ryuma Shiranui (Dragon)
- 1973 The Unsubdued Furies
- 1981 Shaolin Fighters vs. Ninja as Lonely Winner
- 2001 Dark War as Chang
- 1973 Kung Fu Inferno as Chiang Hung
- 1981 The Legend of the Owl
- 2017 God of War as Kumasawa
- 2017 The Brink as Chen Ding-Kui
- 1983 Crisis as Chairman Sun Shao Hung
- 1975 Fists for Revenge
- 1975 The Golden Triangle
- 1976 Young Hero of Shaolin
- 1975 The Return of Sister Street Fighter as Go Kurosaki
- 2017 Manhunt as Hideo Sakaguchi
- 2005 Dragon Get Angry
- 2017 The Empty Hands as Akira Hirakawa
- 1974 Sister Street Fighter: Hanging by a Thread as Shunsuke Tsubaki
- 2018 Iceman: The Time Traveler as Bei Tiao
- 2000 Conman in Tokyo as Tetsuo
- 1972 The Prodigal Boxer as Iron Hand Tan
- 1973 Rage of Wind as Taka
- 2018 Fat Buddies
- 2018 Golden Job as Morimoto
- 1973 Seven to One as Nightclub Singer / Killer
- 1973 Win Them All as Iron Fingers
- 1981 Seed of Evil
- 1974 Fatal Strike
- 2000 Ginza Midnight Story — Utopia
- 1973 Gold Snatchers
- 2003 Yellow Dragon as Gouzaburo "Go" Azuma
- 1974 The Fists of Vengeance as Kiro-san
- 1975 Fighting Dragon as Lung Yen Fei (Dragon)
- 1977 V.I.P.
- 1984 To Catch a Thief
- 1983 Impossible Woman
- 2019 BLACKFOX: Age of the Ninja as Hyoe Isurugi
- 1992 Violent Island: Dirty Money Hijack
- 2004 Fights of Fury
- 2026 Ninja Wars: BlackFox vs Shogun's Ninja as Hyoe Isurugi
- 2026 The Living Dragon
- 1993 My Home Yakuza
- 2021 Pandora's Box ( 12 episodes ) as Hiroshi Kuroki
- 2005 GARO ( 25 episodes ) as Sonshi
- 2018 The Great Adventurer Wesley ( 12 episodes ) as 藤原龙太
- 2020 Warriors Within ( 20 episodes ) as 武田寬
- 1999 Fist Of Hero ( 40 episodes ) as 横山十兵卫
- 2019 Yasuragi no Toki: Michi ( 50 episodes )
- 2020 Warriors Within ( 20 episodes )
- 1974 Fight! Dragon! ( 26 episodes ) as Dragon
- 1982 Gメン'82 ( 17 episodes )
- 1975 G-Men '75 ( 354 episodes ) as 草野刑事
- 2005 The Royal Swordsmen ( 35 episodes ) as 柳生但马守
