Sonny Chiba

I awoke this morning to the news that Sonny Chiba has died due to Covid related complications. He was 82, which seems too young. I can't find any news site that says whether he was vaccinated or not. Vaccines have been rolling out slowly here in Japan, prioritising the elderly. I'm 42 but as a teacher I'm considered an essential worker. Even so, I wasn't able to make an appointment until a couple weeks ago and the earliest day I was able to get was September 20 (I made an appointment for the 25th, a Saturday).

Western fans probably know him best through his association with Quentin Tarantino--clips from his films were shown in True Romance and Christian Slater's cinephile character heaped praise on the Japanese actor. Chiba later appeared as Hatori Hanzo in Kill Bill.

If you've seen some of his movies from the '70s, it's not hard to see why Tarantino is such a fan. Chiba's films not only feature terrific martial arts, they're also very light on sentimentality or moralising. They're not only violent, they're creatively violent, and Chiba's sparkling, understated charisma sells that humour terrifically. Whether he's inexplicably carrying a live pig through Tokyo in Doberman Cop or tearing out a throat in The Street Fighter. If you're looking for action, you should look for Sonny Chiba.