Mr. Miyagi
Nariyoshi Keisuke Miyagi, better known as Mr. Miyagi, is a fictional character of Robert Mark Kamen's The Karate Kid franchise, appearing in The Karate Kid, The Karate Kid Part II, The Karate Kid Part III, and The Next Karate Kid. He was portrayed by Japanese-American actor Pat Morita. A wise, Okinawan-born karate master, he mentors Daniel LaRusso in the first three films and Julie Pierce in the fourth film.
The sequel series Cobra Kai, produced after Morita's death in 2005, frequently references Miyagi through dialogue, archival images, archival footage, and briefly with a CG altered body double, and follows Daniel as he reopens Miyagi-Do as its sensei to continue his mentor's teachings. The series also uncovers secrets in Mr. Miyagi's past.
In addition to The Karate Kid films, the character has made appearances in The Karate Kid animated television series and a Broadway musical. Cobra Kai is thematically structured around the concept of the Miyagi-Verse.
Morita was recognized for his role as Mr. Miyagi with nominations for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 57th Academy Awards ceremony and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.Concept and creation
Writing
The character originated in a screenplay written for The Karate Kid by American screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen. In his youth, Kamen had experienced bullying at the 1964 World's Fair in New York and subsequently turned to karate. He was trained in Okinawan Gōjū-ryū, a defensive style of karate by a sensei who spoke poor English. Kamen stated that Mr. Miyagi was named after Chōjun Miyagi, the founder of the Gōjū-ryū karate style, and that Fumio Demura was the inspiration for the character.Casting
The original preferred choice for the role was Toshiro Mifune, who had appeared in the Akira Kurosawa films Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and The Hidden Fortress, but the actor did not speak English. Pat Morita later auditioned for the role, but was initially rejected for the part due to his close association with stand-up comedy, and with the character Arnold from Happy Days. Producer Jerry Weintraub in particular did not want Morita, as he saw him as a comedic actor. Morita eventually tested five times before Weintraub himself offered him the role, ultimately winning it because he grew a beard and patterned his accent after his uncle. After he was cast and although he had been using the name Pat for years, Weintraub suggested that he be billed with his given name to sound "more ethnic".Characterization
In The Karate Kid films, Mr. Miyagi is portrayed as a strange old man who teaches Daniel LaRusso karate underlined by honor and discipline. Being a spiritual and non-violent man, he instills wisdom in his teachings. This makes him an outsider in comparison with the no mercy philosophy of Cobra Kai. Miyagi is eccentric, making his first appearance trying to catch flies with chopsticks, but has an impressive knowledge of karate. Over the course of his training, Mr. Miyagi becomes a father figure to Daniel. Macchio described Mr. Miyagi as "that special human Yoda character that we all wish we had as we navigated our childhood".
Initially referred to only as Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid, the character's backstory was explored in the sequel The Karate Kid Part II, particularly his upbringing in Okinawa. His name was given as Nariyoshi Miyagi, which later appeared on his tombstone in Cobra Kai. In The Next Karate Kid, his first name was inexplicably changed to Keisuke. When considering this continuity error, Jon Hurwitz explained that the Cobra Kai creators considered the second film to be more meaningful in relation to the character's backstory but felt that his name could be Nariyoshi Keisuke Miyagi.
The Karate Kid provides insight into the character's difficult past during a scene where he drunkenly shows Daniel a photograph of his wife, who died in childbirth along with their son. Born on June 9, 1925, Mr. Miyagi left Okinawa at the age of 18. Notwithstanding the Immigration Act of 1924, which prohibited immigration from Japan, he emigrated to the United States after defying convention and unsuccessfully declaring his love for Yukie, a girl intended to marry his best friend Sato. He meets his future wife while working in the cane fields in Hawaii. After President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 in 1942, shortly after the onset of World War II, Miyagi and his wife are forcibly relocated to Manzanar, a Japanese-American internment camp in California. During this time, he serves overseas in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in the United States army, for which he receives the highest military award, the Medal of Honor, but loses his wife and son in childbirth. Weintraub wanted to cut the drunken scene, believing that it slowed down the film, but Avildsen and Kamen insisted on retaining it as they considered it to be the film's emotional core. Kamen wanted the scene to remind American viewers about the Japanese-Americans who were moved to American internment camps during World War II and those that fought in the 442nd regiment who were awarded more Medals of Honor than any other regiment. Morita particularly related to this aspect of his character's backstory, having himself been placed in an internment camp in his youth.Appearances
''The Karate Kid'' (1984)
In the Fall of 1984, Miyagi is working as a maintenance man at the South Seas apartment complex when Daniel LaRusso and his mother moved in. When Daniel throws away his bike after it is damaged in an ambush by Johnny Lawrence and other members of Cobra Kai, Miyagi repairs and returns it. He later rescues Daniel after he is beaten up by the same bullies. When Daniel realizes that Miyagi saved him, he asks to be taught karate. Miyagi initially declines, wanting instead to prevent the bullying entirely. A meeting with John Kreese – a former Special Forces veteran running the Cobra Kai dojo and the bullies' sensei – proves largely futile. Kreese consents to a cessation of hostilities until the time of The All-Valley Karate tournament, where Daniel and the Cobra Kai students will compete. Miyagi starts Daniel's training with several seemingly non-karate-related house chores, albeit with specific rhythmic patterns: the first day of training sees Daniel waxing Miyagi's various cars; on the second, he sands the wooden floors of Miyagi's house; on the third, he paints a fence with vertical strokes; on the fourth, he paints Miyagi's house with horizontal strokes. Not understanding his mentor's methods, Daniel gets upset and threatens to leave, but Miyagi shows him that the chores were training Daniel to block attacks through muscle memory. One night, Daniel finds Miyagi drunkenly lamenting the death of his wife and newborn son during childbirth at Manzanar while he was serving in Europe during World War II. Miyagi accompanies Daniel to the All-Valley tournament in December, where Daniel goes on to win in the finals.''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986)
After the All-Valley tournament, Mr. Miyagi tells Daniel it is time to meet his mother and Ali for dinner. They are distracted by Kreese attacking Johnny Lawrence and Miyagi asks him to end the fight. Kreese refuses and turns his anger towards Miyagi, who "honks" his nose and subdues him. Daniel's senior prom ends in disaster, and in the beginning of summer 1985, Miyagi invites him to stay with him. A letter arrives informing Miyagi that his father, who lives in Okinawa, is dying. Mr. Miyagi makes plans to visit, and Daniel decides to join him. Miyagi recounts his unfortunate history with Sato and Yukie. Upon arriving, they are greeted by Sato's nephew Chozen, who drives Miyagi and Daniel to Sato. Sato tells Miyagi that they will fight to the death to restore Sato's honor. At the village, Miyagi and Daniel are welcomed by Yukie and her niece, Kumiko. They explain that Sato owns the village's land title and the villagers are forced to rent their property from him. Yukie reveals that she never married because of her love for Miyagi. Miyagi's father requests an audience with both Sato and Miyagi and before dying, requests that they put aside their differences. Sato gives Miyagi three days to mourn before their fight. Miyagi shows Daniel the secret to his family's karate: a handheld drum that twists back and forth, illustrating a block-and-defense karate move called the "drum technique". After Chozen and his crew vandalize Miyagi's family property and attack Daniel, Miyagi decides to return to California. Sato shows up with bulldozers, threatening to destroy the village if Miyagi flees again. Miyagi gives in on the condition that Sato signs the land title over to the villagers and Sato agrees. On the day before their fight, a typhoon strikes the village, leaving Sato trapped under the ruins of a dojo. Miyagi rescues Sato and they hide in a nearby pillbox with Chozen and other villagers. Daniel rushes into the storm after seeing Yuna stuck on top of a bell tower; Sato demands that his nephew help Daniel, but Chozen refuses. Sato assists Daniel himself, after which he disowns Chozen, who runs out into the storm. The next morning, the bulldozers return to help rebuild the village while Sato hands over the village's land title and asks forgiveness from Miyagi. Chozen takes Kumiko hostage and challenges Daniel to a fight to the death. Miyagi and others in the festival use handheld drums to motivate Daniel, inspiring him to subdue Chozen and they celebrate their victory.''The Karate Kid Part III'' (1989)
Miyagi and Daniel return to California in the summer of 1985 and discover that the South Seas apartment complex has been sold and is being slated for development, leaving Daniel homeless and Miyagi unemployed. Miyagi offers Daniel the choice to stay at his house. Daniel uses his college funding to help Miyagi open up a nursery shop for bonsai trees. John Kreese is attempting to resurrect Cobra Kai and get revenge on Daniel and Miyagi with the help of his friend Terry Silver, who hires Mike Barnes, a vicious karate expert. Daniel chooses not to defend his title in the next competition but continues his training under Miyagi. Silver claims that Kreese has died and requests forgiveness for his behavior. Barnes attempts to goad Daniel into entering the tournament by picking a fight with him. Daniel and Miyagi later find that their bonsai trees have been stolen and replaced with an application for the tournament. Daniel and his new neighbor, Jessica Andrews, decide to sell a valuable bonsai tree that Miyagi had brought back from Okinawa. Barnes returns while Daniel and Jessica ascend uphill, holding them hostage until Daniel agrees to compete in the tournament. Barnes then snaps the tree in half. Daniel takes the broken bonsai tree to Miyagi. He performs triage on the bonsai while confessing that he sold his truck to obtain a new stock of trees and that he cannot train Daniel for the tournament. Daniel accepts training under Silver's brutal conditions and ends up attacking a man at a nightclub by punching him and breaking his nose, after Silver bribed the man into instigating a fight with Daniel. Horrified at seeing what he has become, Daniel apologizes to Miyagi and Jessica. When Daniel decides not to compete after all, Silver unveils his true agenda: Barnes and Kreese appear and attack Daniel. Miyagi intervenes and defends Daniel, agreeing to train him once more. The two repair their friendship and replant the now-healed bonsai tree. At the tournament, Daniel defeats Barnes and shares a hug with Miyagi to celebrate his second tournament victory, while Silver and Kreese speculate that Cobra Kai is finished for good.