Donald Yujiro Okumoto (born April 20, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Chozen Toguchi in the film The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and its sequel television series Cobra Kai (2021–2025).
He has also appeared in the films Better Off Dead, Real Genius (both 1985), True Believer (1989), American Yakuza (1993), Contact (1997), The Truman Show (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), Only the Brave (2006), Inception (2010) and Driven (2018).
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Early life
Donald Yujiro Okumoto (ドナルド・奥本裕次郎, Donald Yūjiro Okumoto; born April 20, 1959) was born to Japanese parents Yoshiharu and Yemiko Okumoto in Los Angeles on April 20, 1959. His father was a Japanese immigrant who worked as a short-order cook and later a gardener in Los Angeles after World War II, and his mother was born in America, making Okumoto both a Nisei and a Sansei.
He began karate at age 13, studying under various sensei. By the time of The Karate Kid Part II, the 27-year-old Okumoto held a brown belt in Karate, and had learned basic skills in other martial arts, including Taekwondo and Judo. His Judo Instructor was Hayward Nishioka, his Chitō-ryū Karate Sensei was Yukinori Kugimiya, his Kajukenbo Instructor was Sensei Ron Takaragawa, and his Yau Kung Moon Sifu was Kevin Quock.