He was born in Tokyo on June 27, 1949 and attended the Keio University, where he studied law.
[2] His broadway debut was in the original all Asian cast of Pacific Overtures in 1976 where he played Kayama.
[4] He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1976, but lost to Sammy Williams of A Chorus Line.
[8] At the Perry Street Theater in New York City, he acted in Dick Brukenfeld's historical drama "Extenuating Circumstances", wherein an American man is accused of killing a young Chinese girl in Canton, China in 1821.
[9] Later in his career, he appeared on television in the show Spenser: For Hire on the episode "My Brother's Keeper", where he was reunited with his Pacific Overtures castmate Mako Iwamatsu.