Amin Abbas Dubai

International Japanese actor Ryuki Kitaoka acted in many popular movies including The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003), Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) and Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean (2005).

Speaking exclusively to Arab News Japan, Kitaoka shared his inspiration for Western movies and pop culture, explaining: “I was inspired by Enter the Dragon, Lethal Weapon 4 and Kick Boxer, Best of the best movies. My favorite movies are Leon, Rocky, E.T., Star Wars, Rebel Without a Cause, The Devil Wears Prada.”

The actor also shares a similar passion for Japanese anime and manga. Kitaoka said he was inspired by anime series such as Favorite Kiki’s Delivery Service, Mobile Suit Gundam, Mazinger Z & Devil Man.

Kitaoka said his career took off when he was only 16 years old. His very first acting job was at 18 as part of a play in a theater.

“My first TV role was a stable boy in NHK Japan broadcasting corporation project and it was not movie. My first role in a movie was ‘Ultraman Tiga & Dina’ and I played monster fight with Ultraman,” he told Arab News Japan.

“I appeared in a 2000 Hong Kong Golden Harvest Pictures Ltd. movie ‘Tokyo raiders’ as an FBI agent. That was first appearance in movie as an actor,” he added.

One of the biggest challenges Kitaoka faced during his career was during the filming of a Chinese movie. “My interpreter was very bad where she didn’t do the translation properly. So, I had to translate my lines every night after shooting and keep doing it for a half a year. Then I learned the Chinese language.”

The Japanese actor hopes to appear in appear not only in Japanese movies, but also Spanish, French, South Asian and many other international movies. He also wants to work on more action films.