Biography
Yasuaki Kurata (born March 20, 1946), a.k.a David Kurata, is a Japanese actor specializing in action movies. An accomplished martial artist, he has dan ranks in karate (5th degree), judo (3rd degree), and aikido (2nd degree). He is perhaps best known for his extended battle against Jet Li in Fist of Legend and for his villainous role in So Close. He is fluent in Cantonese. Kurata's home town is Sakura-mura, Niihari District, Ibaraki (now part of Tsukuba). Having studied performing arts at Nihon...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Enter the Clones of Bruce
2023
as Self
Get ready to play a game of death… and another… and another. This wild documentary dives into the Bruce Lee exploitation craze.

Black Fox: Age of the Ninja
2019
as Hyoe Isurugi
The era when Samurai and Ninja existed in Japan. Rikka Isurugi was born and raised in a Ninja clan secluded from society. She soon meets Miya, a girl ...

Iceman: The Time Traveler
2018
as Bei Tiao
The imperial guard and his three traitorous childhood friends ordered to hunt him down get accidentally buried and kept frozen in time. 400 years late...

Fat Buddies
2018
The film revolves around a pair of big-boned, bumbling cops who find themselves at the heart of a drug trafficking case. The agent "J" (Zhang Wen) was...

Golden Job
2018
as Morimoto
A group of former mercenaries reunite to plan an epic heist: boosting a truck full of medicine held by a foreign intelligence agency to supply a refug...

The Brink
2017
as Chen Ding-Kui
Reckless police inspector Sai Gau (Zhang Jin) is on a mission to crack down on criminal Shing's (Shawn Yue) gold smuggling scheme, yet fails to arrest...

Manhunt
2017
as Hideo Sakaguchi
Accused of a murder he didn't commit, a prosecutor sets out on a mission to clear his name.

The Empty Hands
2017
as Akira Hirakawa
Mari Hirakawa is a woman who inherits her father's karate dojo. However, she finds out that Chan Keung, her father's former student, is also its heir ...

The One
2017
as 新右卫门大师
Funny scramble of an esoteric book of cooking between a guy without feeling, a tough girl, a master out of date, a dark-minded rich man, a emotion-man...

God of War
2017
as Kumasawa
During the 16th century, pirates rule the Chinese coastline, pillaging the small villages and terrorizing the citizens. When maverick leader Commander...

KIRI – Profession: Assassin
2015
as Saburi
Kiri was trained as a professional assassin. She carries out missions given by her boss. She has Rui whom she adores like a real younger sister. Rui w...

The Wrath of Vajra
2013
as Amano Kawao
In the 1930s , a Japanese cult called The Temple of Hades was ordered to cooperate with the Japanese military to destroy China. They buy so many youn...

The Last Tycoon
2012
Cheng, a young man who is set up by the chief of police, must leave the life he knows and Qiu, the woman he loves, to start again. After escaping pris...

Sword of Blood
2011
as Genjiro Mishima
A serial killer leaves behind a trail of headless bodies; the special agent assigned to the case begins to uncover the supernatural truth, as his youn...

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
2010
as Chikaraishis Vater
The Japanese forces occupy Shanghai and slowly start spreading terror in the city. Chen Zhen, who was presumed dead, returns to fight against the Japa...

Blood: The Last Vampire
2009
as Kato Takatora
On the surface, Saya is a stunning 16-year-old, but that youthful exterior hides the tormented soul of a 400-year-old "halfling". Born to a human fath...

Shinjuku Incident
2009
as Taro Watagawa
A simple Chinese immigrant wages a perilous war against one of the most powerful criminal organizations on the planet.

GoGo Sentai Boukenger The Movie: The Greatest Precious
2006
as Kouichi Akashi
A mysterious being called Muse awakens, announcing the Precious to whoever gets to her first, causing a 5-way confrontation between the Boukengers, Ga...

Origin: Spirits of the Past
2006
Producer
It is 300 years into the future. Earth's environment had been devastated by mankind's own foolish plans and humankind is beleaguered by the sentient f...

Legend of Seven Monks
2006
Two of the greatest names in the world of Japanese Action Cinema are reunited in the latest film from Japan's action maestro, Kenji Tanigaki. One is "...

Dragon Get Angry
2005
A national feud and the philosophy of martial arts cause a conflict between two big families, one from China and one from Japan, which forced a mixed ...

Anna in Kungfu-land
2003
as Sword Shek
Anna, a martial artist competes in a tournament to honor her Shaolin father but finds herself chasing love and stardom in Hong Kong.

Yellow Dragon
2003
as Gouzaburo "Go" Azuma
Jun (Miyamoto) is a girl who is rumored to hold the key to the antibody to an infamous evil drug her father created known as Yellow Dragon. She is for...

Yellow Dragon
2003
Writer, Executive Producer
Jun (Miyamoto) is a girl who is rumored to hold the key to the antibody to an infamous evil drug her father created known as Yellow Dragon. She is for...

Samouraïs
2002
as Fujiwara Morio
An ageless Demon Warrior is magically impregnated into the womb of a Parisian Kung-Fu Master's girlfriend. But what is the Demon's relationship with a...

So Close
2002
as Master
A conflict of interest between two high-kicking assassin sisters is complicated as they're pursued by the criminals who hired them and an equally high...

Dark War
2001
as Chang
Ken Tsui, a member of an underground organization, is sent to Manila to execute a member of the Filipino government. When he succeeds, he is arrested ...

Conman in Tokyo
2000
as Tetsuo
Jersey is a popular gambler in Mongkok. One day, he takes a trip to Japan with her girlfriend, Nancy, they come to Chinese resaurant. Suddenly, a gang...

Ginza Midnight Story - Utopia 2
2000
In a continuation of "Utopia: Midnight Story, White Flower Bud" Haruka Ichijou follows through in her vow to become the No1 Geisha. She develops intri...

Ginza Midnight Story - Utopia
2000
Japanese gangster drama set in the exclusive Ginza district of Tokyo, following Haruka (Atsuko Sakuraba), a young geisha who is attacked by an influen...

Quiet Don 11
2000
Shizuya thought that he had won the deadly battle with Kaifu, the fifth generation of Kishu-gumi, and put an end to the long-standing conflict, but th...

Quiet Don 10
1996
"I can't live for the Shinsen-gumi." Shizuya wanders between the yakuza and his love for Akino. What is the truth!?

Quiet Don 9
1996
Shouldn't gangsters love stubborn people? To protect true love, the Shinsen-gumi gather at night in Tokyo!

Quiet Don 8
1996
The 8th installment of the series that depicts the activities of the main character, Shizuya, who has two faces: an office worker who works for a wome...

Quiet Don 7
1995
I made the same mistake again... Bullets pouring down like rain! Love for Akino running through! Shinsengumi division! Kisu-gumi plotting assassinatio...

Fist of Legend
1994
as Fuimo Funakoshi
Chen returns to his school when he finds out that his martial arts teacher has died. When he learns that his school students are harassed by some hool...

The Fighting King
1994
A drama filled battle that goes beyond acting unfolds!

Quiet Don 6
1993
Shizuya, who appeared on the first anniversary of Ken Sakamoto's death, the fourth Kishu-gumi. He again asks Ryuko to accept the sake cup. What about ...

Quiet Don 5
1993
Ken Sakamoto, the 4th generation of Kishugumi, is disbanded in mid-career, and his wife, Kumi Sakamoto, succeeds to the name of Ryuko Sakamoto, the 5t...

Violent Island: Dirty Money Hijack
1992
In the scorching heat of Okinawa, former lovers meet. Now, he is a gangster on a mission, she is a window trying to protect what is hers. Together, th...

Quiet Don 4
1992
Ken Sakamoto, a member of the Kishu-gumi, who is aiming to dominate the Kansai region and conquer the whole country, has come to crush the fresh group...

Quiet Don 3
1992
The news of Naruto's attack!! "Punching into the heavens"-Inokubi and Okita's anger has reached its peak, and it's finally time for an all-out war wit...

The Devil's Messenger DEATH MESSENGER
1991
A man with darkness in his eyes has returned from hell for revenge.

Zodiac Killers
1991
as Ishikawa (cameo)
Hong Kong student Ben Lee becomes friends with his mainland Chinese classmate Chang Chih while studying abroad in Japan. Ben is unmotivated to study a...

Bloodfight
1989
as Masahiko Kai
Master martial artist Masahiro Kai is a shadow of the champion fighter and trainer he once was. After his protégé was slain in a no-holds-barred, unde...
Above the War
1989
as Cook
Somewhere in North Vietnam, an American base is overrun by V.C. and a golden Buddha statue is stolen. The American high command won't have this and se...

Seven Days War
1988
as Sakai
A community is in turmoil when junior high schoolers barricade themselves in an empty factory to protest the draconian rules of parents and teachers. ...

Carry On Hotel
1988
as Tomohara
Mr. Lau is a seedy detective who sets up cameras to record an illicit affair. Things go awry however when a hideously glam rock band checks into Lau’s...

Eastern Condors
1987
as Vietnamese Captain
A motley group of Chinese prisoners held in the US is sent on a covert mission with the promise of a pardon: to go deep into Vietnam and destroy a sec...

The Seventh Curse
1986
as Captain Ho
When Dr. Yuen attempts to rescue a girl about to be sacrificed by the Worm Tribe in the middle of a jungle in Thailand, he is damned with seven deadly...

A Book of Heroes
1986
as Yamashita sensei
In one of her first film appearances Yukari plays an undercover Japanese criminal police officer investigating the gang led by Yamashita (Yasuaki Kura...

Millionaires' Express
1986
as Japanese Ninja
What happens when a glamorous express, with high government officials, wealthy merchants, concubines and a gang of brigands on board, speeds towards t...

Police Story
1985
as Passerby (uncredited)
Officer Chan Ka Kui manages to put a major Hong Kong drug dealer behind the bars practically alone, after a shooting and an impressive chase inside a ...

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
1985
as Takei
A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima, combining dramatizations of three of his novels and a depiction of the events of Nov...

Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars
1985
as Parachute Assassin
The third installment in the Lucky Stars series, following Winners and Sinners and My Lucky Stars. The team are released from prison to play detective...

To Catch a Thief
1984
Businessman Cedric Chan hires ninja Richard Ling (Yasuaki Kurata) to steal a valuable jade horse that he's insured for a large amount of money. On the...

Ninja Thunderbolt
1984
The Ninja Empire has been run by an evil master and one member decides to leave the empire. The ex-Ninja wants a Hong Kong detective to track down the...

Aces Go Places II
1983
as Bull
An assassin called Filthy Harry is hired by a shady figure and charged with killing the heroes. The men are framed twice for different robberies by K...

Kanei Command Performance
1983
During the reign of Shogun Iemitsu, a great martial arts tournament was held to determine whether or not Iemitsu was to remain in power or cede it to ...

Impossible Woman
1983
A female Ninja starts a war against the drug cartel she was forced to work for.

Deadly Life of a Ninja
1983
as Iga Ninja Leader
A businessman and his sister-in-law are targeted for assassination by a band of evil ninjas and their vicious leader (Yasuaki Kurata). The ninjas are ...
Crisis
1983
as Chairman Sun Shao Hung
A family implodes after the reading of a will. They fight over the inheritance, forming and re-forming alliances, and spend most of the film searching...

Legend of a Fighter
1982
as Teacher Kong Ho San
This is a powerful, yet fictionalized life story of Huo Yuan Chia, a real kung fu master in Southern China who brought respect to the populace and all...

The Legend of the Owl
1981
A masked mastermind named The Owl holds an exclusive auction every year, selling special slaves and rare objects of art. One of the customers requests...
Seed of Evil
1981
A 1981 Hong Kong thriller from actress turned directed Kao Pao-Shu.

Shaolin Fighters vs. Ninja
1981
as Lonely Winner
After her father, Golden Rings, is killed by the Deadly Blade, the Moon Goddess sends out invitations to all the top fighters in the region to try and...

Why Not?
1981
as Hanjiro
The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji ...

Ninja In The Deadly Trap
1981
as Shi Ping-Wei, the Ninja Leader
During the Ming Dynasty, as Japanese pirates wreak havoc along the Chinese coast, laying waste to entire towns, a band of ninjas start appearing and t...

The Magnificent 3
1980
as Japanese tourist
After getting into a brawl in a Discotech in Dominica, three strangers; a Japanese tourist (Yasuaki Kurata), a Chinese restaurant worker (Tony Poon) a...

Heroes of the East
1978
as Takeno
Gordon Liu stars as a Chinese martial arts student struggling to relate to his new Japanese wife. When a series of martial misunderstandings spirals i...

Edge of Fury
1978
as Mr King
A chauffeur is pursued by drug dealers after his boss, a convicted drug kingpin, is sentenced to death.

Secret of the Shaolin Poles
1977
as Tiger Lei (as Shoji Kurada)
Legendary Chinese rebel Fong Sai Yuk (Fei Meng) takes on the Manchu dynasty in this high-octane martial arts actioner. After killing one of the govern...

V.I.P.
1977
Bandit-bandit international also known as V.I.P. and The Mad, the Mean, and the Deadly is an action movie starring Chan Wai Man.

Which Is Stronger, Karate or the Tiger?
1976
as Ryuzaki Tetsuji
Yasuaki Kurata plays a masked ring brawler who is out for revenge against an evil, megalomaniac entrepreneur played by Japan's most reliable bad guy o...

Young Hero of Shaolin
1976
This film is about Fong Sai-yu going under cover as a servant in the villain's mansion. He is a famous fighter that fights for justice. While at the m...

Dragon Princess
1976
as Masahiko Okizaki
A karate master played by Sonny Chiba is attacked and left crippled and blinded in one eye. He trains his daughter (Etsuko Shihomi) with the intention...

The Return of Sister Street Fighter
1975
as Go Kurosaki
When Koryu's childhood friend Shurei is abducted by gangsters, the desperate young woman recruits a female martial artist and a tough-as-nails strange...

Fists for Revenge
1975
3 felons facing the death penalty, escape the night before they are due to be executed and plot their revenge on the people that put them there.Prepar...

The Golden Triangle
1975
A coalition of anti-narcotics brigades from many countries make a daring attempt to halt the flow of opium and heroin from the part of Southeast Asia,...

Fighting Dragon
1975
as Lung Yen Fei (Dragon)
Lung Yen Fei returns from Japan to investigate the cause of his teachers' death.

Sister Street Fighter: Hanging by a Thread
1974
as Shunsuke Tsubaki
Koryu heads to Yokohama in search of a woman named Birei, kidnapped by diamond smugglers who move their hot rocks by surgically implanting them into t...

The Executioner
1974
as Karate teacher
Three men, the skilled ninja Ryuichi Koga, the deadly assassin and former drug detective Takeshi Hayato, and the criminal mastermind Ichiro Sakura wor...

Little Godfather from Hong Kong
1974
as Sakada (Chong)
Bruce Liang plays a Chinese Kung Fu movie star, who during his free time carries on a one-man crusade against drug dealers. The villains trick Liang i...

Call Me Dragon
1974
as Panther / Leopard Head
Golden Sand City is filled with brothels and casinos funded by drug lord Yim Kung Ho (evil Mr. Yem) and policed by the iron fist of his henchman Panth...

Fatal Strike
1974
Two policemen try to defeat a drug lord using the ancient art of Kung Fu.

The Fists of Vengeance
1974
as Kiro-san
Chinese mine workers are being cruelly suppressed by the Japanese, and a Chinese officer is sent to the scene. In an effort to hide the evil truth, th...

Ferocious to Ferocious
1973
as Yamada
Jackal Lam's gang and the police commissioner steal Tiger Wong's shipment of illegal gold. In order to avenge himself and reclaim the gold, Tiger Wong...

Gold Snatchers
1973
Two foster brothers fight in a deadly struggle for possession of their mother's gold fortune and a beautiful young woman.

Black Panther
1973
as Chang Hui-Feng
Cheng Sing gets betrayed by his crime Partners and lands in Jail. After he gets out he's starting his trail of Revenge.
The Unsubdued Furies
1973
The story of a Chinese patriot who avenges his father's death, agitates Chinese tungsten miners against their Japanese masters and falls in love with ...

Seven to One
1973
as Nightclub Singer / Killer
In contemporary China, hip and sexy Ting, in flare polyester pants and platform shoes, seeks revenge for her father's murder, and is on the run from t...

Win Them All
1973
as Iron Fingers
Filial daughter seeks revenge on father's killer. She must associate with dishonest people to finance her mission.

A Gathering of Heroes
1973

Knight Errant
1973
as Tetsuro
Taiwan taxi driver Jimmy Wang Yu has good intentions -- he wants to pay for an operation to help his sister recover her sight -- but he's saddled with...

Fist of Unicorn
1973
as Sun
Unicorn travels to a village troubled by gangsters in search of revenge for the murder of his parents years before. The task is made more complicated ...

Rage of Wind
1973
as Taka
A renowned boxer and his American wife return to Japan where he must engage in a bloody battle to protect her.

Kung Fu Powerhouse
1973
as Tiger
Chained together in a ring of mistrust and hate, the good and the bad fight in karate.
A Girl Called Tigress
1973
as Chiau Kung
Here's a foxy tale of love, pigtails and slapped faces with a spitfire heroine that fights Yasuaki Kurata and his bully gang in old china town.

Kung Fu Inferno
1973
as Chiang Hung
During the Manchu (Qing) Dynasty, a mainland Chinese patriot becomes a one-man resistance force to defend a timber works against the invading Japanese...

Four Riders
1972
as Lei Tai
Four highly skilled fighters unite to take on a ruthless criminal gang, battling corruption, murder, and injustice in the wake of the Korean War.

Kung Fu: The Invisible Fist
1972
as Cpt. Jai Tai
This martial arts film set in the 1920s pits masters from kung fu and karate styles of fighting against each other. The Japanese are planning an invas...

The King of Boxers
1972
as Tu Pien
A King Boxer named Chow (Meng Fei) visits a friend in Thailand. She introduces him to her boyfriend, who's a Thai boxer. Chow saves the Thai boxer f...

The Prodigal Boxer
1972
as Iron Hand Tan
THE PRODIGAL BOXER features Chinese folk hero Fong Sai Yuk (aka Fong Si Yu), the subject of dozens of HK kung fu films. The role is played by Meng Fei...

The Angry Guest
1972
as Katsu
The Angry Guest is a direct sequel to Duel of Fists which had two long-separated brothers, Ti Lung and David Chiang, reuniting in Bangkok and running ...
Tiger
1972
as Tze Chiang
A young Chinese all-karate champion, Tze Chiang (Kurata Yasuaki), along with his Japanese wife, arrives home in Shanghai only to find that the situati...

Fight! Dragon (TV Pilot) - Dragon Flies to Hong Kong.
N/A
as Ryuma Shiranui (Dragon)
After ten years Ryuma Shiranui, aka Dragon, returns to Hong Kong to visit the grave of his mentor, Kaizan Fubiki, who recently died from "an accidenta...