Japanese actor and martial arts legend Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba, known for his appearances in Hollywood blockbusters like Kill Bill and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift passed away on Thursday due to COVID-19 complications. He was 82. Chiba had a career in film and television spanning more than five decades, while appearing in Japanese films, including landing roles in Hollywood ventures. Known prominently for his martial art skills, he also choreographed fight sequences during the later phase of his career. 

Born Sadaho Maeda in Fukuoka, Japan, on January 22, 1939, Sonny Chiba started martial arts training at the Nippon Sport Science University in 1957 under karate master Masutatsu "Mas" Oyama. He went on to receive a first-degree black belt in 1965 and subsequently was cast in the late 1970s as Oyama in the film trilogy - Champion of Death, Karate Bearfighter and Karate for Life. Chiba earned a fourth-degree black belt in 1984, while also holding black belts in ninjutsu, shorinji kempo, judo, kendo and goju-ryu karate.

Sonny Chiba's film and TV career began in 1960 after he landed roles in Japanese superhero shows, Seven Color Mask, as a replacement to the lead actor, and, Messenger of Allah, which saw him play the main role. His first roles in films were in Japanese crime thrillers under director Kinji Fukasaku, with the two collaborating several times over the years, while also starring in the 1961 sci-fi venture, Invasion of the Neptune Men. Chiba's first martial arts film was Karate Kiba in 1973 after which he burst onto the international stage in The Street Fighter in 1974. 

Among the notable films Sonny Chiba has starred in over the course of his career, his role in blockbuster Hollywood and American director Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Volume 1, continues to be a standout and well-remembered by fans. Chiba played Hattori Hanzo, the owner of a sushi restaurant and a retired swordsman who crafts a special blade for Uma Thurman’s character in the film. He also starred in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift as a Yakuza boss and uncle of the main antagonist, Takashi, played by Brian Tee. Before the pandemic last year, Chiba was to appear in a film titled Outbreak Z, while the upcoming Bond of Justice: Kizuna will be his final and posthumous film appearance.