Guy Aoki writes a wonderful tribute for Rafu Shimpo on the 30th anniversary of the release of the Karate Kid starring Pat Morita.
In it, Aoki recounts a story I had not heard before.
One of the most memorable moments in the movie is a scene Aoki calls “the single best scene any Asian American had ever played in any film.”
In it, Mr. Miyaki as played by Morita is drunk. He tells the horrors of watching his wife and child die in the incarceration camp because no doctor would come to help.
It was a scene Columbia Pictures wanted to cut from the film because they said it didn’t forward the plot, but Morita successfully fought for the scene and it remained in.
That is just one of the anecdotes Aoki shares in his piece. You can read the rest in Rafu Shimpo.
