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
Fist of Legend
(1994)
Fuimo Funakoshi
Police Story
(1985)
Passerby
Shinjuku Incident
(2009)
Taro Watagawa
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
(1985)
Takei (segment "Kyoko's House")
So Close
(2002)
Master
God of War
(2017)
Kumasawa
Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars
(1985)
Parachute Assassin
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
(2010)
Chikaraishis Vater
GoGo Sentai Boukenger The Movie: The Greatest Precious
(2006)
Kouichi Akashi
Manhunt
(2017)
Hideo Sakaguchi
Eastern Condors
(1987)
Vietnamese Captain
Golden Job
(2018)
Morimoto
The Return of Sister Street Fighter
(1975)
Go Kurosaki
The Millionaires' Express
(1986)
Japanese Ninja
The Wrath of Vajra
(2013)
Amano Kawao
The Last Tycoon
(2012)
Full Filmography
Acting
The Prodigal Boxer: The Kick of Death
(1972)
Iron Hand Tan
Four Riders
(1972)
Lei Tai
Tiger
(1972)
Tze Chiang
Kung Fu: The Invisible Fist
(1972)
The Angry Guest
(1972)
Katsu
The King of Boxers
(1972)
Tu Pien
Seven to One
(1973)
A Girl Called Tigress
(1973)
Chiau Kung
A Gathering of Heroes
(1973)
Gold Snatchers
(1973)
Ferocious to Ferocious
(1973)
Yamada
Kung Fu Powerhouse
(1973)
Tiger
The Black Panther
(1973)
Chang Hui-Feng
The Unsubdued Furies
(1973)
Knight Errant
(1973)
Tetsuro
Win Them All
(1973)
Iron Fingers
Fist of Unicorn
(1973)
Sun
Rage of Wind
(1973)
Kung Fu Inferno
(1973)
Chiang Hung
The Executioner
(1974)
Karate teacher
The Fists of Vengeance
(1974)
Kiro-san
Call Me Dragon
(1974)
Panther / Leopard Head
Little Godfather from Hong Kong
(1974)
Sakada (Chong)
Fatal Strike
(1974)
Sister Street Fighter: Hanging by a Thread
(1974)
Shunsuke Tsubaki
The Return of Sister Street Fighter
(1975)
Go Kurosaki
Fighting Dragon
(1975)
Lung Yen Fei (Dragon)
The Golden Triangle
(1975)
Fists for Revenge
(1975)
Dragon Princess
(1976)
Masahiko Okizaki
Young Hero of Shaolin
(1976)
Which Is Stronger, Karate or the Tiger?
(1976)
Ryuzaki Tetsuji
V.I.P.
(1977)
Secret of the Shaolin Poles
(1977)
Tiger Lei (as Shoji Kurada)
Heroes of the East
(1978)
Takeno
Edge of Fury
(1978)
Mr King
The Magnificent 3
(1980)
Japanese tourist
The Legend of the Owl
(1981)
Why Not?
(1981)
Hanjiro
Ninja In The Deadly Trap
(1981)
Shi Ping-Wei, the Ninja Leader
Seed of Evil
(1981)
Shaolin Fighters vs. Ninja
(1981)
Lonely Winner
Impossible Woman
(1982)
Legend of a Fighter
(1982)
Teacher Kong Ho San
Deadly Life of a Ninja
(1983)
Iga Ninja Leader
Kanei Command Performance
(1983)
Aces Go Places II
(1983)
Bull
Crisis
(1983)
Chairman Sun Shao Hung
Ninja Thunderbolt
(1984)
To Catch a Thief
(1984)
Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars
(1985)
Parachute Assassin
Police Story
(1985)
Passerby
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
(1985)
Takei (segment "Kyoko's House")
The Seventh Curse
(1986)
Captain Ho
The Millionaires' Express
(1986)
Japanese Ninja
A Book of Heroes
(1986)
Yamashita sensei
Eastern Condors
(1987)
Vietnamese Captain
Carry on Hotel
(1988)
Tomohara
Seven Days War
(1988)
Sakai
Above the War
(1989)
Cook
Bloodfight
(1989)
Masahiko Kai
Zodiac Killers
(1991)
Ishikawa (cameo)
The Devil's Messenger DEATH MESSENGER
(1991)
Violent Island: Dirty Money Hijack
(1992)
Quiet Don 3
(1992)
Quiet Don 4
(1992)
Quiet Don 5
(1993)
Quiet Don 6
(1993)
The Fighting King
(1994)
Fist of Legend
(1994)
Fuimo Funakoshi
Quiet Don 7
(1995)
Quiet Don 10
(1996)
Quiet Don 8
(1996)
Quiet Don 9
(1996)
Conman in Tokyo
(2000)
Tetsuo
Quiet Don 11
(2000)
Ginza Midnight Story - Utopia 2
(2000)
Ginza Midnight Story - Utopia
(2000)
Dark War
(2001)
Chang
So Close
(2002)
Master
Samouraïs
(2002)
Fujiwara Morio
Anna in Kungfu-land
(2003)
Sword Shek
Dragon Get Angry
(2005)
Yellow Dragon
(2005)
Gouzaburo "Go" Azuma
Legend of Seven Monks
(2006)
GoGo Sentai Boukenger The Movie: The Greatest Precious
(2006)
Kouichi Akashi
Blood: The Last Vampire
(2009)
Kato Takatora
Shinjuku Incident
(2009)
Taro Watagawa
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
(2010)
Chikaraishis Vater
Sword of Blood
(2011)
Genjiro Mishima
The Last Tycoon
(2012)
The Wrath of Vajra
(2013)
Amano Kawao
KIRI – Profession: Assassin
(2015)
Saburi
The Empty Hands
(2017)
Akira Hirakawa
Manhunt
(2017)
Hideo Sakaguchi
God of War
(2017)
Kumasawa
The Brink
(2017)
Chen Ding-Kui
The One
(2017)
新右卫门大师
Iceman: The Time Traveler
(2018)
Bei Tiao
Golden Job
(2018)
Morimoto
Fat Buddies
(2018)
Black Fox: Age of the Ninja
(2019)
Hyoe Isurugi
Enter the Clones of Bruce
(2023)
Self
Production
Writing