Takeshi Kaneshiro

Takeshi Kaneshiro (born October 11, 1973) is a Japanese actor and singer of mixed heritage - his father is Okinawan and his mother is Taiwanese. --- Kaneshiro's mother is Taiwanese and his father is from Okinawa, Japan. He was born and raised in Taipei but holds Japanese citizenship as well. The son of a Japanese businessman and a Taiwanese homemaker, he has two elder brothers, one is his senior by seven years, the other just by one. After graduating from Taipei Japanese Junior High School, he enrolled at English-based Taipei American School, which enabled him to converse in English. While he was studying there, he began doing television commercials and decided to quit school to pursue a singing and acting career. He is multilingual, fluent in Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien and Japanese, and to lesser degrees in English and Cantonese. In 1992, Kaneshiro made his singing debut, entering the business with the nickname Aniki, meaning 'older brother' in Japanese. His debut album was Heartbreaking Night (1992). Contracted to EMI, he wrote many of his own Mandarin and Cantonese songs. The following year, his popularity propelled him into acting and he no longer produces any commercial music. His film debut was Executioners (1993) and this was followed by Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express(1994) and a string of other Hong Kong films. Later, Kaneshiro starred in the Japanese television mini-series God, Please Give Me More Time (1998), allowing him to branch into Japanese films such as Returner (2002). Kaneshiro's work, however, is more heavily concentrated in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In 2008 and 2009 he starred in Red Cliff, a high budget film by Hong Kong director John Woo. He has also played the romantic lead in Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers, and starred alongside Jet Li and Andy Lau in The Warlords. Kaneshiro has also become well known in the video game industry portraying the samurai warrior Samanosuke in Capcom's Onimusha. In 2003, Kaneshiro was featured in the magazine Time and was coined as becoming the Asian film industry's Johnny Depp. Moreover, Kaneshiro was interviewed by CNN in the TalkAsia segment in 2006. --- Kaneshiro is a practicing Buddhist, having converted in 1997, and has said his mother is also a devout Buddhist. Kaneshiro is known for trying to avoid the media spotlight. He has been quoted as saying “If one day I get married and have kids, I will probably be one of those men who really care for the family. I will eat at home every day, and help with the chores and take care of the children.”