<\/a>Shinichi \u201cSonny\u201d Chiba, the Japanese actor and martial arts legend best known internationally for starring in \u2018Kill Bill: Volume1 and Volume 2\u2019 as well as \u2018The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift\u2019 died Thursday from complications caused by COVID-19, his manager said. He was 82.
\nBorn Sadaho Maeda in Fukuoka, Japan on Jan. 22, 1939, Chiba took up martial arts when he began attending Nippon Sport Science University in 1957, studying Kyokushin Karate under Master Masutatsu \u201cMas\u201d Oyama and earning a first-degree black belt in 1965, as noted by his IMDb bio<\/em>. He would later go on to portray Oyama in a trilogy of films (Champion of Death, Karate Bearfighter, and Karate for Life). In 1984, he received a fourth-degree black belt. He also held black belts in Ninjutsu, Goju-ryu Karate, Shorinji Kempo, Judo, and Kendo.
\nChiba\u2019s career in film and television spanned five decades, Variety<\/em> reported. He appeared in numerous Japanese films and popular American movies, including \u2018The Street Fighter,\u2019 \u2018The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift\u2019 and \u2018Bullet Train\u2019, according to Chiba\u2019s biography on IMDb.com<\/em>. He also appeared in both of Quentin Tarantino\u2019s \u201cKill Bill\u201d movies, CNN<\/em> reported.
\nChiba is survived by his three children, actors Juri Manase, Mackenyu Arata, and Gordon Maeda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shinichi \u201cSonny\u201d Chiba, the Japanese actor and martial arts legend best known internationally for starring in \u2018Kill Bill: Volume1 and Volume 2\u2019 as well as \u2018The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift\u2019 died Thursday from complications caused by COVID-19, his manager said. He was 82. Born Sadaho Maeda in Fukuoka, Japan on Jan. 22, 1939, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[12667,12666,12668],"yoast_head":"\n