Yuji Okumoto

Early life

Yuji Okumoto, a third-generation Japanese American (sansei), was born in Los Angeles, California. He attended Hollywood High School, where he played both baseball and basketball, and Cal State Fullerton, where he eventually took up acting. Okumoto has also been involved with several theater companies, including the celebrated East West Players, where he appeared in the play, Webster Street Blues.

Career

Okumoto's first feature film role was in the 1985 comedy film Real Genius as Fenton. Later in 1985, he appeared in Better Off Dead as Yee Sook Ree, a Korean immigrant who along with his non-English speaking brother Chen (Brian Imada) frequently challenges Lane Myer (John Cusack) to drag races whenever they are together at a set of traffic lights. Yee Sook Ree learned his English from watching Wide World of Sports and spoke like Howard Cosell.

He is also well known for his convincing portrayal of the venomous, ever-smiling Chozen Toguchi in The Karate Kid Part II. He played a Korean character, Shu Kai Kim, in the 1989 film True Believer alongside James Woods and Robert Downey, Jr. Okumoto then played the role of Pete Kapahala in the 1999 Disney Channel original movie Johnny Tsunami and its 2007 sequel Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board. In 2005, he played a role in Lane Nishikawa's film Only the Brave about the Japanese American segregated fighting unit, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team of World War II. He also played alongside Ken Watanabe in Christopher Nolan's 2010 thriller Inception. Okumoto was announced to have joined Nicholas Gyeney's Seattle-based drama, Ultra Low, in February 2017. The film is scheduled to begin production the following March.

Personal life

Okumoto lives in Seattle, Washington, where he and his family own a Hawaiian-themed restaurant, Kona Kitchen/Yuji Lounge.