Yoshi Ando(I)

Born and raised in Tokyo and moving to the U.S. in 2001, Yoshi was previously a successful businessman in Tokyo, but he decided to become an actor inspired by renown actors such as Daniel Day-Lewis and Mifune Toshiro (with love of classic samurai films). Along with lead roles in independent films, he was cast in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated film, Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), quickly establishing himself as a promising bi-cultural actor able to perform in Japanese, or English language films with equal skill. Yoshi began his martial arts study as a youth in Japan, and is continuing his training under the intensive tutorship of Shinkendo master Obata Toshishiro.